Last Regrets
by BrooklynHiggans63
Summary: Stuck in England with nothing but a boring routine and studying to keep him going, Peter misses Narnia more than ever. He's having a hard time coping with the loss. But thanks to a sudden trip to the bakery and with the help of some mutual friends, he believes that he's found another way in. Which he admittedly thinks is odd because Aslan himself said he can never go back.
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Chronicles Of Narnia. This amazing series respectfully belongs to CS Lewis. I merely own the plot and a few original characters.

~*~

Chapter One

~*~

There were a lot of things Peter and Lucy could agree on (which is why she'd always been his favorite sister) and one thing they could definitely agree on with no questions asked is the scratchy bed sheets in the Professor's manor were absolutely awful.

Don't get him wrong. He'll always be grateful to the Professor for allowing him to stay while he finishes up his studies. He has to admit that the room he's staying in is far much better than the one he got before. But the scratchy sheets kept him up most nights and when he told this to the Professor; all the old man did was smile and told Peter to blame the housekeeper. He isn't really surprised by that answer either.

Peter exhales sharply and squints at the little beams of yellow sunlight peaking from the curtains. Morning already? He yawns. He considers skipping classes to get a few more minutes of sleep. Five more minutes wouldn't hurt, right? He shakes his head. No, be responsible Pete, be responsible. He has to remind himself that it's not a kingly thing to do and slowly but reluctantly gets out of bed. He didn't want to get in trouble. He opens his closet and slides on his school uniform.

"Up, get up!" A shrill, feminine voice comes from the other side of his door. He jumps at the sound of loud, rapid knocking. "Boy, you'd better be up or this is the last night you're going to be staying at this household!"

He rolls his eyes, recognising the voice of the housekeeper. He sprints to the door, in the middle of tying his tie. An elderly, bespectacled woman stands in the door way with a stern expression.

"Morning, Mrs Macready, " he says half-heartedly.

"Don't morning Mrs Macready me," she mocks in her thick Irish accent. "Just because you and the professor are friendly, doesn't mean I have to be. Understood?"

He resists the urge to roll his eyes in front of her and nods his head instead. She gives him a wary look and holds out a golden letter.

"This came for you in the mail," she says, shoving it against his chest which he takes with a frown. "And don't forget to eat your breakfast, the professor wants you out of the house by 10 o' clock sharp."

His eyebrows knit together skeptically. Did that really come from the professor's mouth? He says nothing and waits for her to leave before shutting the door. Thank Aslan he didn't have to interact with her all the time. They were quite fine with keeping their distance from each other.

Peter eyes the letter in his hands and turns it over. Sure enough, it's addressed to him. His lips quirk up as he recognises his brother's messy scrawl and signature red wax seal. He carefully tears it open and his eyes dart across the parchment paper.

 _Dear Peter,_

 _I know I've complained countless times about Eustace. But can you really blame me? He's a pain in the neck, always has to get the last word and argue about every little thing. I envy you and Susan. You two get to go across the country while Lucy and I are stuck with that annoying brat. Lucy's too nice to him. I'm sure she's annoyed with him too. She just hides it well_.

 _But enough about that. Lucy and I finally got to go to Narnia again! We got in through a painting, of all things. Guess who came with us though? The two of us had to babysit him constantly. He was rather rude to Caspian. Excuse me, King Caspian. He's doing great, by the way. When Lucy and I met him again, he was sailing on a ship. It was so stunning, a gold colour in the shape of a dragon. Which is funnily enough what Eustace got turned into._

 _Narnia's not what it used to be Peter. It seems like every time we go there, it changes. I almost didn't recognise it. Even so, and I know you might roll your eyes at this, I think Caspian is doing a fantastic job keeping the peace between the countries. We did have a little problem with the slave traders. But I don't think they're going to be a problem anymore. Don't worry, we had it sorted._

 _That's the last time Lucy and I will be going to Narnia though. I suppose I envy Eustace. He's our only connection to Narnia now. Sometimes I can hear Lucy cry at night when she thinks no one can hear her. Don't tell her I mentioned this to you. It's been hard for the both of us. I don't know how you and Susan handle it. I think you're both doing a better job than we are_.

 _I know that you have a rough time too but I'm glad the professor is helping you through it all. How is he by the way? Any news on the lovebirds? Does your university have a fencing club? I know that it's nothing like Narnia but I hope that might help with the homesickness._

 _Write back soon. Lucy misses you as well._

 _Edmund_

He nearly tosses the letter into the nearest trash bin when he reads about his sibling's latest adventures in Narnia... but he stops himself. They were never going back again. He never got over that pain and his heartache when Aslan told them they could never go back. Aslan's words always echo mockingly in his head nearly every day. The homesickness is the worse of it. He's thought plenty of times of joining the fencing club. But he's worried that it might bring back painful memories.

Aslan knows how Susan's handling the loss. Every time he mentions it to her, she changes the subject. On her latest letter, she talked about the party she attended with their mum in America.

As Peter's eyes dart across the page, a smile spreads on his face as his thoughts drift over to the "lovebirds". He admires Noah's attempts to woo a girl from the school across from theirs. He still finds it hard to believe this is the same arsehole who bumped into him at the train station. He'd have to write Edmund later.

He stands nearby the familiar sign of"Coombe Halt" station, waiting for the train. He waits at the same spot almost every day. It reminds him of the time he and his siblings were waiting for the professor to pick them up. The train whistle blows, bringing Peter out of his thoughts. He sprints for the sliding doors, clutching his brown school bag close to his side as he squeezes through.

Immediately, he hears the excited chatter and laughter as he steps into the narrow hallway. Every single compartment is full of teenagers his age. Some groups were talking animatedly to each other and some still look like they were half asleep. Noah is nowhere to be found. He dreads the thought of Noah ditching him to flirt with his crush. He wouldn't be surprised if he did. He doesn't have the patience to look for Noah anymore and decides to find his own compartment instead which is admittedly frustrating to do since they were always so crowded.

He finds one in the very back but there's a girl with dark hair sitting by herself, reading a book. He winces. He doesn't want to chat with anyone at the moment. He snuck a glance at the compartment behind him only to find a couple sitting side by side, giving each other adoring eyes. He shudders. He definitely didn't want to get involved with that. So he sighs and taps on the window to get the girl's attention. She continues reading as if she hadn't heard him. He knocks against the glass a few times and frowns when the girl doesn't answer. He lets out a groan of exasperation and smacks his head against the glass. He regrets it as soon as he does it. But the girl does look up and his blue eyes meet her own. She stares at him curiously before closing the book and placing it on the seat as she walks over and unlocks the door.

"Can I help you?" she asks, tucking a strand of black curls behind her ear. Her voice is a bit airy.

"Y-yes, I was wondering if I could sit with you, " he says, giving her a sheepish smile. He'd been distracted by her golden sun and crescent moon earrings. "Everywhere else is full."

Her eyes widen. She bites her lip and glances behind him as if she were searching for someone and nods her head slowly, opening the door wider for him to get through.

"Thank you, " he smiles at her weakly. He takes his place in the seat across from hers. She says nothing else and resumes reading. The air between them is a bit stiff and awkward as they try not to stare at each other too much. "Good read?"

She merely nods her head and turns the page. He has the urge to sigh but doesn't in fear of offending her. He was never good with other girls besides his sisters even in Narnia. That's more Edmund's thing than his and, to be perfectly honest, both of them were terrible at communicating with girls.

"I can leave if I'm bothering you."

She says nothing. Is she being intentionally difficult? This time he does sigh and is about to grab his bag and leave.

"You're not bothering me," she says so softly that he thought he imagined it. He stops what he's doing and stares at her in shock.

"Erm, right then," he slowly shuts the door and takes his seat.

"Did you know there are at least five species of owls in Great Britain?" she asks, clutching the book tightly in her lap.

He raises his eyebrows at the odd question, "No, I didn't," he says truthfully. Is that her way of starting a conversation? "Is that what you were reading about?"

He grows irritated when she doesn't answer right away. Maybe he should've kept searching for Noah after all.

"They're not very fast fliers and it's bad luck if you hear them at night," she continues as if he didn't speak. "Shame really. I'm quite fond of barn owls."

Not only did he choose the wrong compartment, the girl across from him is a complete nutter. That's just his luck really.

"Do you like barn owls?"

"I... well, I can't say I've given them much thought," he answers slowly.

Thankfully, they continued the train ride to school in silence. He's not sure if he could handle any more odd questions. An hour later, the train's breaks squeal to a stop alerting everyone on board that they've arrived.

"We're here, " he tells her.

"Thanks for talking with me, " she says, reaching for her brown book bag. "Not many people do. "

 _I can't imagine why_ , he thinks. He merely nods his head.

He watches quietly as she disappears into the crowd of students. He never did get her name.

He finds Noah in their English class with his feet on the desk in front of him. He shakes his head and smacks his friend with the notebook in his hands.

"What the bloody hell was that for? " Noah protests, clutching the back of his brown curls.

"You know perfectly well what that was for, you git! " Peter exclaims, taking the seat beside his friend.

Whatever Noah says is drowned out by the professor explaining their new assignments. There were a few grumbles of disappointment at the mention of silent reading but other than that the entire class was quiet save for the scratching of chalk on the blackboard.

~*~


	2. Chapter Two

~*~

Chapter Two

~*~

"Alright, alright!" Noah exclaims as soon as class is over and they make their way down the corridor for their lunch break. "How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

Peter merely gives him a nasty glare and childishly strolls ahead of him without saying anything. He's had enough of his friend's one track mind.

They walk out of the school, towards the courtyard where a few tables with blue umbrellas were scattered around. It wasn't usually this empty, most days there would be people eating lunch or lying on the patches of grass, reading a book. He places his book bag on the grey table and slides onto the bench.

"Can you really blame me?" Noah huffs, placing his lunch tray (which consisted of a turkey sandwich and chocolate milk) on the table and sits across from him. "I thought you knew I wouldn't be on the train today!"

Peter shakes his head and takes a bite of his own sandwich.

"Are you really gonna give me the silent treatment, all day?"

He pauses what he's doing and ogles the two girls getting out of the school across from theirs. They're just sitting on a pink blanket on the grass, eating their lunch and talking to each other. He frowns, recognising the mad girl from the train. He recognises the blonde haired girl sitting with her, the way she sat elegantly. Karen. He remembers the way Noah had pointed her out -very rudely he might add- with a goofy grin on his face. He had no idea they were friends.

"-eter! Peter!"

Peter jumps, startled by his friend's voice. He turns towards the boy sitting across from him in confusion, the umbrella stand blocks his view of him.

"You alright, mate?" Noah frowns.

He stiffens as Noah follows his gaze, towards the two girls.

"Oh, I get it," Noah gasps, "you like her!"

He doesn't like the teasing tone. He whirls around and his stomach sinks at his friend's knowing look and wolf-like grin.

"No, I don't!"

"I can set you up on a date with her!" Noah exclaims.

"Noah, don't you dare!" Peter warns. "Don't you--!"

But his friend is already rushing towards the two girls. He shakes his head. Anything he says to him goes through one ear and out the other. Honestly, Noah couldn't even get a date for himself. He can hear Noah talking from where he is. The two girls look up from their conversation to stare at him. Oh, that's going to end so badly.

Noah suddenly points over at him. Dear Aslan help him! With his quick thinking and reflexes, he slides underneath the table just as the girls glance in his direction. Forget annoyed, the girl sounds furious. He can hear them arguing and visably winces as a loud smack follows. Next thing he knows, he's staring at a pair of brown leather shoes.

"You can come out now," came Noah's solemn voice. "they're gone."

Peter slides back into his seat, mortified at what he'd done, and smiles sheepishly. His eyes wander over to the red mark on his friend's cheek.

"Really? You hid under the table?" Noah shakes his head, staring at him incredulously.

"Yeah, it's not my proudest moment," Peter confesses and smiles sheepishly at the glare sent his way.

Noah's nursing his injury as he takes his seat.

"Damn, that woman can hit hard!"

"At least she did it for me so that I wouldn't have to," Peter shrugs his shoulders. "Which reminds me..."

He smacks his friend with his notebook, ignoring Noah's protests as he sits back down.

"Consider that payback for me having to put up with you."

"I see you can still punch hard."

"Hey, that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't bumped into me in the first place."

It's quite funny how that fight even started. Peter didn't even remember the real reason why they fought in the first place. It wasn't one of his finest moments and Susan liked to remind him that whenever she could. He still remembers her smug grin when he told her how they became best friends after they'd talked it over. Turns out he fought with a lovesick idiot who was just trying to get his crush's attention.

"I didn't need a flashback of that fight, thank you very much!" Noah winces, probably from either the wound on his cheek or from bad memories. "Can we never speak of that again?"

"You just don't want to remember it 'cause I won that fight," Peter taunts.

Noah sends him a nasty glare then sighs in resignation and rubs his temples as if he has a headache.

"Remind me again why I'm still friends with you?"

"I was hoping it was because you liked me, " Peter raises his eyebrows.

"No, no, that's not it."

"I provide you with food during school hours."

"There it is!"

It's quiet for a moment. Peter thought he could finally get some work done. As much as he hated homework, he hated procrastinating on it more.

"Why can't she just like me?"

Peter was about to make a sarcastic retort but held his tongue at the forlorn, puppy dog expression on his friends' face. He pities the older boy sometimes. Noah looks so much like a lost puppy that he can't help but want to help him out. He sighs heavily, shutting his notebook. He wouldn't be getting any studying done anytime soon and he isn't sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"Maybe you just came on too strong," he reasons with him.

"She won't even look at me," Noah reminds him.

"Have you ever tried talking to her?"

"Today's my first attempt actually," Noah's hand brushes against his cheek absentmindedly. "and you saw how well that went."

"Does it ever occur to you that you could talk to her like a normal human being?"

Noah stares at him like he's insane.

"The thought never even occurred to me."

"Then just get her to see some of your better qualities," Peter huffs. The annoyance is slowly crawling up on him.

He has the urge to smack the other boy again but resists. He can't afford to get into trouble at school.

Peter jumps as his friend suddenly exclaims "I've got it!" before gathering his things up and walking back into the school without so much as an explanation. He's not sure what's gotten into the boy. He doesn't even want to know. He rubs his forehead, sighing heavily. He can feel a migraine approaching.

At least it leaves him in peace, listening to the birds sing around him as he continues to write his essay.

~*~

A/N: Here,we get to tackle more of Peter and Noah's quirky friendship.I forgot to mention that the setting takes place after Voyage of The Dawn Treader, mentions a little of The Silver Chair, and leads up to The Last Battle. Thank you so much for reading and the follows! I'd love to read more of everyone's thoughts!

Guest(GayathriK): Thank you so much for your review, it truly made my day! I hope you don't mind me replying here since I can't answer back via PM. I apologize for the lack of detail in Edmund's letter, I think that was just me not being familiar with the letter format and not being good at descriptions at times. Eustace does get turned back to a boy in the movie.You're right, this is more movie based than book based, I'm more familiar with them than the books. That's quite alright! I don't blame you for not liking the movie's inaccuracies (I'm this way with Harry Potter sometimes), I felt like the only good one of the three was The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Prince Caspian was okay, and there was something off with Voyage of The Dawn Treader but it was alright too. I've heard that they're coming back to this series with The Silver Chair! It completely slipped my mind that there might have been talking owls in Narnia, considering there were seagulls as well! I'm glad you caught that, I wanted her to have a "Luna" vibe, there's definitely a reason why she acts the way she is!


	3. Chapter Three

~*~

Chapter Three

~*~

The following day, Peter walks through the train towards the compartment he found. He's almost certain he wouldn't find Noah on the train after learning about his new class schedule. He's not sure what he's going to do now that he knows Noah won't be waiting for him on the train this semester.

Sure enough, she's sitting there with her nose stuck in a book. He's about to knock on the glass again to get her attention but stops himself when he sees she's not alone. Karen is sitting beside her. And, from the look of things, he'd stumbled upon a serious conversation. Why now of all days? His shoulders slack and he turns away to look for another place to sit. He'd honestly been looking forward to talking with the mad girl a little more.

He's about to head for the sliding door to move on to another car when he hears someone call for him.

"Hey, you!" A feminine voice shouts. "You there!"

He whirls around, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. Karen's standing with him in the hallway. His arm smacks against the glass door reflexively as he jumps back.

"You startled me," he says, catching his breath.

"Sorry," she smiles sheepishly. She doesn't sound apologetic though and her brown eyes are sparkling with mischief. "I have that effect on people. You can come sit with us if you want."

She gestures over to the compartment he just passed by. She takes the lead with a graceful strut. Her short, sandy curls are bouncing with her movement.

"Found somebody for you!" Karen says to the person inside and opens the door wider for him to go through.

The brunette looks up from her book and they lock eyes once more. He waves awkwardly as he takes the vacant seat across from the two girls. He places his book bag near the window beside him. She blushes and hides behind her book. She's wearing the same golden sun and crescent moon earrings again.

"I don't think I ever got your name," the blonde girl says.

He'd heard about her so many times from Noah, he almost forgot they've never been properly introduced.

"Peter," he answers. He has to hold himself back from adding 'the magnificent.' He holds out his hand which she takes, shaking it with a firm grip.

"Oh, like Peter Pan!" she smiles brightly.

He can't help but grin at her reply. He hasn't read that story since he was a kid.

"I'm Karen," she says. She gestures over to her friend who hasn't said anything yet. "That's Emily."

"We've met," Peter says with a nod.

He notices the girl's blue eyes glance up at him for a second before returning to the book in her hands.

"You have?" Karen's eyebrow quirks up.

"Do you like barn owls?" Emily pipes up suddenly.

It's the same question she asked him yesterday. His lips part slightly as he stares at her in confusion. He hasn't quite figured her out yet.

"Oh, Emily," Karen sighs.

Emily stiffens at her friend's look of disapproval and brings her book closer to her face.

"Please, excuse me, " Emily says quietly.

"No, it's alright, " Peter reassures with a wary smile. "I...well, I do like them...I just haven't given them much thought."

She doesn't reply. And, even though he tells her the same answer, she merely smiles and buries her face in her book again.

"I'm sorry about her, " Karen hesitates. Her eyes dart over to her friend for a second before going back to him. "She usually doesn't talk much but when she does... "

"She doesn't make sense?" He offers, frowning. He notices the girl's smile falter from behind her book.

"Exactly," Karen nods.

The mood darkens between the three. He stiffens. Karen averts her eyes, clearing her throat. By the lion's mane, he wishes he has Lucy's ability to keep the conversation going. She usually knows what to do in these types of situations. He's the High King. He knows how to present himself in meetings with other kings, but he can not handle two teenage girls. What was wrong with him?! It didn't help that Karen is eyeing his every move he made like a hawk. Her brown eyes are sharp as she meets his.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about yesterday," Karen admits, after a tense silence. "Is there a particular reason why you hid underneath the table?"

Damn, he should've hidden quicker. His cheeks warm up as she leans forward and folds her arms across her chest. Why does he feel like he's been chastened by a relative?

"I'm so sorry about whatever my friend said to you," he's quick to apologise.

"Don't worry about it, "a ghost of a smile appears on her face. "Though I have to admit, it felt damn good punching him."

"I just wish I could have seen it," Peter chuckles.

Karen's cheeks turn a bright crimson at the compliment. Aslan forgive him for what he says about Noah.

"Do you think you can give him a chance?" Peter asks hesitantly. Her smile falters. "Noah's a really good guy. He's just not the brightest when it comes to romance... or dating for that matter."

Karen tenses but has a thoughtful look on her face, "I'll think about it."

It's not the answer he's hoping for. But it's a start. He's not expecting them to get along right away. His shoulders tense once more at the silence that overcomes the trio. Neither girls are in the mood for talking and he isn't sure if he should stay more. Sometimes, he finds his eyes drifting over to the strange girl. But he catches himself and turns away before they could notice.

He clears his throat and is about to get up when Karen calls him out on his awkward behaviour again.

"Where are you going?" she asks, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I -- I was just trying to look for another--" he stammers and points toward the hallway.

"You can stay here if you want," she says, "It's a bit crowded out there."

He follows her gaze out the door and shakes his head. There were a few students trying to look for a compartment too.

"Alright," he nods and sits back down. He doubts he'll find Noah on the train today anyway.

To her credit, Karen tries her best to keep the conversation going the whole way to school, asking normal, everyday questions. Emily, however, has not said a word the entire time.

As the train comes to a stop, he immediately sees Noah lying on the grass with one arm spread out behind his head as he reads. He's about to approach him when he feels a tug on his jacket sleeve. He whirls around and sees Emily standing there, looking uncertain. He hadn't minded her company. In fact, she didn't intimdate him as much as Karen did.

"Is there... something you needed?" he asks politely with a tight smile.

"Have you... "she pauses, exhaling sharply. It's like she's trying to find the right words to say to him. "Have you ever been to another world before?"

He stiffens at the question, staring at her with his eyes wide.

"Wha--?" He stammers. His heart races as he tries to answer her. "How -- How did you --?"

Before he can say anything or even understand what was happening, Karen calls for her. She hesitates for a moment before waving awkwardly and disappearing into the crowd of red and blue uniforms.

~*~

Guest: lol, oh my gosh, Peter-y goodness, I love how you worded it xD Let's just say what Noah said is extremely inappropriate for the series, especially for Karen who is a feminist xD This is advice Peter definitely learned from Ed. I have this headcanon that Edmund was the flirtier one of the two brothers and although Peter had his charm, he is extremely awkward with girls fawning over him xD He is telling Noah to treat her like a normal human being, not an object :)


	4. Chapter Four

~*~

Chapter Four

~*~

"Oh, there you are!" Noah exclaims, grinning. "I was about to send a search party for you. "

Peter shakes his head. He's still too tired and shaken from his conversation with Emily to deal with his antics. He merely takes a seat beside him on the grass, in a daze as he grabs a bite of breakfast to eat before Maths starts.

"Are you alright, mate?" Noah asks with a look of concern. "You've been spacey lately."

No, he's not alright. He hasn't been alright since he's left Narnia.

"I'm alright," he smiles to show him but it must not have worked from the skeptic expression on Noah's face.

"Sorry if I ruined your chances with her, " Noah averts his eyes. "I tried my best to get her to answer but she doesn't really--"

"Talk, I know," he rolls his eyes. Of course, his friend would worry about that. Still, Noah rarely apologises to anyone. It caught him off guard for a moment. "Don't worry, it's not because of that."

"Are you sure?" Noah asks. He throws his hands up in defense at Peter's deadpan expression. "Alright, just making sure," his hazel eyes flicker over towards the other school across from theirs. "She was a bit weird though. Sure you don't fancy her?"

"I never said I fancied her," he pointed out. "You just assumed."

"Well, you stared at her a lot," Noah argues. "Of course I thought you fancy her."

He groans audibly, lying down on the grass. He wishes the older boy would just stop talking about girls and dating for once. Their conversations were borderline repetitive and got on his nerves. It's like he's talking with Susan, listening to her never ending chatter about parties and dances... and, horrifyingly enough, boys.

"You really don't like her, do you?" Noah questions.

Might as well humour him, he reasons.

"How weird was she?"

"Pretty damn weird," Noah replies. His eyebrows quirk up. "Kept going on about random science facts and owls."

Peter slightly perks up at that.

"She asked you about owls?"

"Yeah," Noah looks as confused as he felt. "Is that some sort of secret code you two have got going on?"

"No."

Just what was it about that girl and owls? He never saw the appeal even in Narnia. He's a bit fond of cats but he never thought to ask people about them. Then again, not a lot of people liked cats that much, did they?

"Oh, just a quick heads up," Peter says, and the boy looks up from his breakfast. "Your true love might stop by sometime today."

"What?" Noah spits some scrambled eggs onto Peter's blue blazer.

Oh lovely, he thinks to himself. His nose scrunches up at the mess as he wipes it off with a napkin.

"Why didn't you say something about that?!"

"You didn't tell me about your train schedule."

"That's completely different!" Noah exclaims harshly, his hazel eyes are completely wide as his breakfast plate. "This is about me possibly scoring--!"

"Hello, boys!"

Both boys jump, spooked from the feminine voice greeting them. They watch speechlessly as the two girls sit on the grass with them.

"So where do we start?" Karen asks, placing her pink bag next to her.

The two boys share a look of confusion.

"Wait, right now?" Noah stammers.

"That's what I was hoping for, yes," she replies, sitting perfectly straight as she takes a bite of her salad. "Dazzle me."

"Are they allowed to do that?" Noah whispers in a strange squeak. A noise Peter has never heard the other boy make before.

"Apparently so."

Noah turns toward him. His deadpan expression could rival his brother's. Peter only smiles sheepishly, completely speechless. He hadn't been expecting her to actually listen to his advice, especially not right away. He glances over at Emily, who's smiling behind her book, for answers. Her cheeks are a bit red.

"I--" Noah squeaks then clears his throat to make his voice deeper. "Where would you like to start?"

"Frankly, I thought we could get to know each other," she glances over at Peter, raising her eyebrows at him as if to remind him it's his idea, and then turns her attention back to Noah. "and you're not really off to a good start."

Karen takes another bite of her salad with her eyes darting back and forth between the two boys. Noah's eyes continuously dart back and forth between him and Karen until he finally settles for him. Peter shrugs at the accusatory glare his friend sends his way. He's only semi involved in this train wreck. She came all on her own.

"Well?" Karen prompts.

He shakes his head. Only Noah could boast about how he's going to win her affections for the whole year and be completely awkward when they finally get a chance to talk. He isn't that much better at the subject so he really shouldn't judge.

"Do you like barn owls?"

Peter exhales sharply, staring at Emily in disbelief. Is she really going to ask that all the time? She's not looking at him. Her gaze is directed at Noah who's taken aback by the question.

"I --I'm sorry, what?" Noah stammers, looking to him for help. But Peter shakes his head, just as confused.

"Do you like barn owls?" she repeats.

"Emily!" Karen whispers harshly.

"I--I yeah, I think they're... alright, I suppose, I've never really seen one though, " Noah glances over at Peter as if asking him "what the bloody hell was that?" Peter shrugs.

"Hello, Peter," Emily greets.

He stiffens as she directs her gaze over towards him. He's so used to her silence that hearing her talk caught him off guard.

"Hi, Emily, " he greets her hesitantly.

She smiles brightly and waves but doesn't say much after. Karen throws him a grateful smile as if she were silently thanking him. He'll never understand girls.

"Do you like plays?" Noah blurts out.

Karen stops in her tracks and she whirls around, staring at him incredulously.

"Plays?" she repeats slowly. He nods his head. "What kind of plays?"

"I'm a bit fond of Shakespeare's work myself, " Noah smiles brightly. "always have been."

"You're not talking about Romeo and Juliet are you?" she asks with a wry expression on her face.

"Good heavens, no!" Noah exclaims. "We read that in class once and I fell asleep right away."

Karen turns to him for confirmation.

"It's true," Peter sighs. "but he falls asleep in that class almost all the time so... "

He smirks at the heated glare sent in his direction.

"I'm actually talking about Macbeth or Hamlet or Othello," Noah eases into the conversation, smiling smugly as her jaw drops in surprise.

"You know, I'm a big fan of Hamlet myself, " Karen says, still wary of him but intrigued by the notion. "They're showing it this weekend. Perhaps you'd like to come see it with me?"

"Really?" Noah gasps. His brown eyes light up with excitement and looks ready to jump out of his chair at any given moment. "Yes! I mean," he clears his throat. "that would be quite amazing!"

"See you then," Karen winks.

She nods over to the other girl and they both stand on their feet.

"Wait!" Peter calls out to them. They both pause and whirl around perfectly in sync. "I was wondering if I could talk with Emily for a bit before you go to your classes? It's really important."

Emily turns towards the taller girl as if she's silently asking if it's alright. Karen purses her lips but nods her head.

"I'll be watching from over there, Peter Pan," she points over towards the school's entrance.

"What were you talking about earlier?" He asks as soon as Karen leaves. "Why'd you ask me that?"

She doesn't reply right away. She has this distant look in her eyes, almost wistful and longing. It's hard not to notice the small, dark circles underneath them.

"Your entire existence is weird, it's like -- like you're not meant to be here... like you're meant to be somewhere else, " she explains. She gasps sharply. Her blue eyes widen in horror. "I didn't mean that in a rude way, I--I just--"

"No, no, it's okay, " he gives her a tight smile. "I understand that."

"You do?"

"I know that feeling really well," he says. He shuts his eyes and can hear a ghost of a roar in his ears.

"Do you like barn owls, Peter?"

"I'm beginning to," he admits honestly.

His eyebrows rise when her cheeks turn a bright crimson.

"Thank you for--"

"I know," he smiles at her for the first time since they met. "You're welcome."

"I s-should probably--" she points over to the girl waiting.

"Y-yeah, right!"

Emily waves awkwardly and wanders back over towards the blonde haired girl who was tapping her feet against the pavement impatiently. Peter gathers up his things, tensing at Noah's quiet snickering.

"And you said you didn't like her."

Peter calmly slaps the back of his friend's head.

"Ow! Jeez, I should have you arrested for unnecessary abuse!" Noah whines, clutching his head.

"Oh relax, I didn't even hit you that hard," Peter rolls his eyes, throwing his bag over his shoulder.

"What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot."

"I managed to score a date with her, didn't I?"

"Whatever you say, Noah."

"Hey, don't you walk away from me, Pevensie! I need you to tell me more about Hamlet!"

~*~

Gayathrik (Guest): It's the other way around for me; you're spoiling me with your amazing reviews! Truthfully, I have up to Twenty Four chapters pre written which is why I can update so fast! I can do daily updates if you like! :D I could have sworn that King Frank and Queen Helen were also from the Pevensie's world O.o Peter doesn't have a crush on Karen but he admires her no nonsense attitude. :) Aw, so sorry you don't like Emily, I hope that does change as the story goes on. lol, they really should team up for just that reason because Noah's too silly and inappropriate for his own good. xD

A/N: And this is a heads up for anyone else reading, please feel free to correct any grammar mistakes! Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter Five

~*~

Chapter Five

~*~

Dear Peter,

 _I can't believe you're actually mocking my letter writing skills! You know I'm not very good at them. By the mane, you remind me of the time we had to write out those peace treaties for Calormen. And of all of those lessons we had to take. Susan and Lucy kept making fun of my handwriting. They said it was illegible. I cringe every time I remember writing those letters. Especially spelling out your name. I'm still annoyed at how long your name was._

 _Eustace was stupid enough to try and steal dragon's gold. I'm not sure what changed him exactly, becoming a dragon meeting Aslan, or Aslan changing him back into a human. Whatever Aslan did worked wonders on him. Trust me. At the next family meeting, you'll hardly recognise him. He's not the prat he used to be._

 _Now, about the girl you mentioned. How weird was she exactly? Talking to herself weird or going on about the end times weird? And how did she know you were from another world? It's suspicious. Do you think she's from Narnia? It's the only explanation I can think of._

 _Noah managed to get a date that fast? He must've left a good impression. Can you tell me what he did? Because it took me a whole two years to get Nerina to court me back in Narnia and even longer for Lucy and Tarak! I'm still upset about him hitting me in the jaw. I'm going to get back at him for that one day when he least expects it. I'll still support him though if Noah and Karen ever decide to marry._

 _I'm thinking of joining the fencing team actually. I'm not sure if I should do it. Lucy's been pestering me about it, says it'll be good for me. I dunno. She might be on to something. She usually is_. _And whenever she gets a good feeling about something, she's usually right._

 _Don't forget to write a letter to Lucy too. She loves getting letters from you both._

 _Edmund_

He admires his sibling's persistence at him joining the fencing team. Telling him time and time again that it'll help him. He's avoided this very subject ever since they came back to London. He sighs heavily, placing the letter down as he heads off to the train, mutterimg a quick "good morning" to the other maids and gsthering some breakfast before heading out. Sometimes the food from home is so mich better than what they serve at the cafeteria.

He debates whether or not to sit with Karen and Emily again when he notices them in their usual spot. Emily must've seen him through the corner of her eye because she looks up and right at him. He quickly waves at her and immediately heads in the opposite direction. He doesn't like how fast his heart is beating as he walks through the hallway.

To his utter surprise, he finds Noah sitting in a compartment by himself, reading a book for once in his life. Odd. Peter thought Noah wouldn't take the train anymore. He looked terribly confused as he skims through its pages. Hmm. Must've been one of Shakespeare's works.

"I thought you said you were an expert on Shakespeare," Peter taunts as he barges in the compartment without knocking.

Noah jumps like a frightened cat and accidentally tosses the book in the air. It lands on the seat across from him. The pages flutter in the air for a few moments before slamming shut.

"Why must you do that to me, Pevensie?" Noah exhales sharply, clutching his chest. "I thought you were Karen!"

"Sorry to disappoint you. Edmund says hi, by the way," Peter tells him as he takes a seat across from him.

"Ah, I remember the bloke! How's he doing?" Noah nods, brown eyes flickering with recognistion.

"He's going to get back at you for punching him in the jaw."

"He's still upset about that?!" Noah's jaw drops in disbelief. "He got in the way!"

Peter shrugs his shoulders, "That's not what he tells me," he says. "plus, he wants an invitation to the wedding."

"What wedding?!"

"The one that you and Karen are going to have, of course!"

He snickers at how red Noah turns.

"How can you be so sure that's going to happen?!" Noah splutters. He aims the book at Peter's head. But thanks to Peter's quick reflexes, he catches it with ease. "We haven't even had our date yet!"

"According to Edmund, you're doing just fine," Peter reassures him. "Did you know she was going to be on the train today?"

Noah turns a brilliant shade of red, "Yeah, I did," he admits sheepishly. "You saw them, right? When you came over?" At Peter's nod, he continues, "I got too nervous to talk to her."

He did not blame him. Karen often intimidates him as well. Which is odd because he assumes that the blunt way that she spoke is not taught at the girl's school which is known for their strict manners and elegance (which Karen and Emily both had).

"I managed to talk to her after school yesterday, " Noah smiles.

"You did?"

"Well, she did most of the talking," he explains. "Did you know that she's on the golf team?"

"No, I didn't. "

"Apparently she says it's tough, " he continues, "They always talked about her behind her back. "

"I always told you sports teams were a bad idea," Peter reminds him. "Need I remind you about what happened with the rugby team?"

"I'd rather you didn't," Noah's face darkens for a second at the thought of his favorite sport. "I made a fool of myself and told her I joined a sports team this year."

"Oh, well there's nothing I can do about that now then, can I?" Peter shrugs. He opens the book in his lap.

"Ah, about that," Noah smiles sheepishly. "I ...might've...told her that both of us signed up for the fencing team."

"You what?!" Peter exclaims.

"Surprise?" Noah tosses his arms in the air awkwardly.

Peter had a long debate with himself whether or not if he should toss the book at Noah's head. He holds himself back.

"You can't just decide something like that for me!" Peter shouts. His cheeks warm from anger. "Did it ever occur to you that I had reasons for not joining a fencing team?"

"Oh, yeah?" Noah argues. "What reasons are those?"

"Private ones!"

"Well, excuse me, for not knowing about your reasons," Noah sneers. "You hardly even mention them. So how should I know?"

He wants to tell him. But if he did, Noah might not believe him or think he's gone mad.

They sit in silence for a moment. Maybe he should have sat with Karen and Emily.

"You really love her, huh?" he asks quietly.

"Yes!"

He sighs heavily, in an attempt to calm himself down. "Can I be the best man at the wedding at least?"

"Of course you're going to be the best man!" Noah exclaims. "Who else would it be?"

Maybe it wouldn't be terrible joining the fencing team. He and Edmund were one of the best sword fighters in Narnia, according to Orius himself. And getting a compliment from Orius is like getting Aslan to stay in one place. It just doesn't happen.

"Look, if it bothers you that much then you can always quit at the end of term."

Maybe his siblings might finally stop pestering him about it as well.

"Alright, I'll do it," Peter says with reluctance. Noah's face lights up like a Christmas tree. "but I won't like it."

"Thanks, Pevensie, I owe you one."

He should start making a list of stuff Noah owes him so he wouldn't forget.

"Oh, there is one other thing I forgot to mention, " Noah mutters.

"What. "

"Karen and I might've set you up on a blind date, " Noah says quickly but enough for him to catch on.

"You what?!" Peter exclaims. His jaw drops in disbelief. "I... you... Noah!"

"It was her idea!" Noah's quick to turn the blame away from him.

"Are you sure this is where you saw him go, Em?"

The boys freeze as Karen's sharp, airy voice fills the car. Noah hastily shoves the book in his hands towards Peter but Peter shoves it back to him in time before Karen's face pops up in the glass window. She gives them a smug grin before calling for Emily

"Ah! Hello again, boys!" Karen smiles at them as she enters the compartment with Emily following quietly behind her.

Peter's eyes flicker over to Noah who's gone stiff with shock when Karen sits beside him and shakes his head.

"Hello, Karen," Peter answers her politely. "Have a nice morning so far?"

"Yup," she says brightly. "Just got a whole hour of make up done, a whole hour! Can you believe it? I usually take longer than that, right Em?"

Emily nods, glancing over at Peter, "She does take forever," she agrees. "And always pesters me about using it as well."

Ah, make up. Another thing he'll never understand about girls.

"You don't like it?" Peter's lips quirk up when she wrinkles her nose.

"I get a bad reaction."

"Which is just Emily speak for 'she just doesn't like it,'" Karen teases. She glances down at the book in Noah's hands. "Are you reading Hamlet?"

"Just doing a bit of light reading before tomorrow night," Noah finally finds his voice.

"Did you tell him about the--?"

"I did," Noah nods at her. "He didn't take it too well."

"Yeah," Peter cuts in, earning sheepish grins in return. "What are you lot going on about?"

"Well, I think you should give her a chance," Karen throws his own words at him and he glances over at her in disbelief. "It's the least you could do, right?"

"Alright," he agrees. Karen squeals giddliy and wraps her arms around him in a fierce hug, ignoring Noah's soft protest of "Watch out for the book!" He notices Emily's frown and unreadable expression in her eyes as they let go.

"You won't regret it, I promise!" Karen exclaims.

Somehow, he doesn't believe her.

~*~

GayathriK(Guest): Yes! I honestly love writing Noah and Peter's friendship so much! It came from the headcanon I had that the boy Peter fought in the train in the second movie quickly became friends afterwards. Ooh,okay, thanks for clearing that up! Sorry, I got confused for a minute there! I'm glad you like Karen! It's definitely my intention to write her more likeable than Emily. It's funny you say that because Emily is linked to owls in a way :D


	6. Chapter Six

~*~

Chapter Six

~*~

Peter swears under his breath as he fixes his tie. _Why did the bloody thing have to exist?_ He's so grateful for the traditional Narnian clothing, no ties, just a magnificent cape, tunic, and trousers. No tuxedoes...ever. Friday has gone by too quickly for his liking and now he's getting ready for the date the "lovebirds" have so kindly set up for him this evening.

At least it beats staying in the house all day.

He skips a few steps, just barely avoiding Mrs Macready, and stops when he sees a room at the bottom of the stairs. His shoulders stiffen as he walks a little closer towards it.

His fingers brush against the doorknob and are about to turn it until he hears footsteps inside. His breath hitches and he jumps back.

The professor's in there, pacing back and forth. Peter can see a small, black shadow in the cracks of the door, blocking his view of the wardrobe. He has the urge to go inside, to say something to the old man. They've both snuck inside the room more often than he can count, reminiscing their days in Narnia.

A silly thought crosses his mind; about asking the old man for advice on courting. He brushes it aside and decides to walk away, from the wardrobe and its secrets, whilst respecting Mrs Macready's tired rule of "do not disturb the professor."

The theatre is a vibrant gold, with crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There were old paintings of angels and cherubs, stopping at the marble walls and on the stage was a bright red curtain.

There were a bunch of tables scattered everywhere filled with people drinking their wine and chatting amongst themselves as they waited for the play to start.

He stiffens as he passes by a group of people, clutching onto their programs.

"There you are, Pevensie!" Noah exclaims. "You actually came!"

"Well, I didn't really have a choice now, did I?" He answers dryly.

"Oh, you'll love it!" Noah exclaims breathlessly. "Can you believe this crowd?"

Karen is standing next to a tall girl who has pale skin, blonde curls, and brown eyes. She wore a pink glittery dress with matching heels and handbag by her side.

It's strange seeing her without Emily.

"Oh, there he is!" Karen announces, pointing right at him. He stiffens as they stare in his direction. She waves him over and he exhales sharply as he approaches them.

"Hope I'm not too late," he smiles weakly. But he imagines it looking wrong on his face.

"Nope, you're just on time!" Karen grins. "Margot, this is Peter. Peter, Margot! Go wild, you two!"

She winks at them which makes them chuckle awkwardly and rushes back to Noah. He says something that makes her giggle and makes Peter gag.

They stand there for a few minutes, and he finds himself listening to the chatter around him to calm his nerves. He already doesn't like the look Margot gives him. She purses her lips slightly and sticks her nose up on the air as if she has something to prove to him.

"Have you... have you ever been to a play before?" he asks.

"I haven't," Margot says hesitantly. "Karen talks about them all the time though so I thought I'd give them a try."

"Are you a fan of Shakespeare?"

"I'm not a fan of reading in general," she admits with a tight lipped smile. "It always gave me a headache in class."

How on earth is he supposed to get along with this woman? His smile falters.

"Would you like to sit down?" he asks and moves the chair so she can sit first.

Her smile widens and brown eyes light up, "Ooh, a gentleman!" she exclaims. "I quite like that in a man! You're off to a good start!"

What is that supposed to mean? His jaw clenches as he takes his own seat. The things he does for his friends sometimes.

"Are you a sports fan?" He asks, trying his best to be polite.

"I am actually!" Margot leans forward in her seat. "I'm quite fond of rugby but I could never play it myself. Karen and I used to go to your school's games all the time!"

"Really?" he raises his eyebrows.

"Why do you have to say it like that?" she asks, affronted. Her jaw drops. "You don't think a girl like me likes sports?!"

"I didn't say that," he says quickly. He winces, noticing Karen and Noah frowning at their table. "I just meant that you'd be good at it. "

"Damn straight I would be good at it," she says calmly.

The music swells up, the lights dim, and the curtains open with an actor on stage waiting for the audience around him to quiet down.

Margot tries to talk to him during the performance but is shushed by a few people nearby. Thankfully, she's quiet for the rest of the performance.

They decide to get drinks and some food during intermission.

"Oh no," Margot scoffs. Her brown eyes dart over to the door and her glossy pink lips curl into a pout.

"What's wrong?"

"What's the freak doing here?"

He raises his eyebrows and glances over to where the front entrance is. To his surprise, Emily walks in. She's as awkward as ever, wrapping her arms together around her light blue dress as she carefully avoids bumping into people.

"Emily isn't a freak," he frowns.

"Have you met her?" Margo's jaw drops in disbelief.

"I have," he says irritably. "I just don't see how she is one."

"You don't see her in class," Margot scoffs, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't understand why Karen puts up with her. Must be some sort of pity thing."

"Or maybe she's just a really good friend," he emphasizes.

"Well, maybe freaks flock together, don't they?"

He purses his lips in a thin line. He taps his foot against the carpet floor. He adjusts his tie. He really doesn't want to be in that theatre anymore. And Karen notices because she slides into a seat next to Margot.

"Well, isn't this fun?" she smiles brightly. If she notices the tense air between them, she doesn't mention it. "Noah's gone to get drinks, want to come with me to the loo, Margot?"

"Please," Margot says breathlessly. She clutches her pink handbag and slides out of her seat.

He mouths "thank you" to Karen and she merely winks at him as she follows the brunette.

"Emily?" Peter raises his eyebrows. He's not entirely unhappy to see her there. In fact, he can already feel the tension leaving his shoulders. He's so happy to see her that he could hug her. "What are you doing here? Karen said you might not be coming."

"She's the one who called me here, actually," she smiles brightly, shuffling her feet. She suddenly finds the floor more interesting. "she said that I needed to help rescue someone. Karen always said being fashionably late was the key to being more sociable."

"You honestly came at the right moment." He chuckles breathlessly. "Don't get me wrong, Karen's amazing, but she has strange choices in friends."

Emily's smile falters. He slaps himself mentally.

"Oh, wait, that came out wrong," he backtracks. "I just meant that I enjoy your company better."

"I see."

"Have you met Margot?" he asks. He has to salvage what's left of the night.

"I have," her blue eyes flicker over to the brown haired girl chatting with Karen. "She's... not that friendly."

"Oh, Peter!" Margot shouts from the bar, waving at him enthusiastically. "Do you want anything?"

"No thank you!" Peter exclaims. " 'm fine here!"

"Lovely, isn't she?" Emily asks. Her nose crinkles as she stares at the brunette.

"Just a smidge," Peter agrees. "Am I still weird to you?"

"Absolutely, " she nods.

"What do you know about other worlds?" he asks.

He has to ask her. The question's been nagging however since she mentioned it.

Emily beams at his question, "Would you like to come to the bakery after the play?" she asks instead of answering. "We won't be alone, the others are coming too."

"I--alright," he agrees.

He has nothing better to do than to study anyway.

As the play ends and the actors take their bows, the group of five walk closely together, just narrowly missing the massive crowd. They walk until they pass by a large park. The girls, excluding Emily, are giggling while they talk to each other. He and Noah are walking side by side awkwardly.

"Girls love to talk a lot, don't they?" Noah comments. "Are they always like this?"

Peter merely shrugs his shoulders. He no longer has the energy to deal with him.

Emily leads the way, towards a large building on the corner. The words "Jones Bakery" are written in gold across the sign on top of the front entrance.

A woman is behind the counter, during the tabletops. She has her dark hair tied in a ponytail and wore a blue apron over her short sleeved dress. She glances up when the bell rings and wrinkles appear on her forehead as she smiles at them.

"Bloody hell!" Noah exclaims.

Peter nudges his friend, glaring at him. Noah has the decency to look ashamed.

"This is the place you were telling me about, Emily?" Karen asks. Her mouth is slightly ajar as she glances at the tall building in awe.

"Yep," Emily pipes up cheerfully. "this is it!"

"You live here?" Margot asks in a tone of disapproval.

"My whole life!" Emily answers.

"How... charming!"

Peter frowns at the girl, noticing Emily stiffening beside him.

"Hello, mum, " Emily greets the woman behind the counter.

"Oh, hello dear," the woman greets back, wiping some flour off of her face. "You're home early!"

"By the time I got there, the play was almost over," she explains. "Is Brandon home yet?"

Her mother's smile falters slightly and her expression turns sad as she shakes her head. Emily sighs softly.

"Are these all your friends?" her mother changes the subject before everyone could question the topic they were talking about.

"Do you have any recommendations for our new friends?"

"Try the scones," her mother says quickly, nodding towards a shelf on her left. "they're delicious! H-help yourselves!"

Margot is right about it being charming even though she said it in distaste. There were sweets and baked bread stacked nearly on the shelves. And the smell of biscuits was making his stomach grumble.

Emily nudges his arm and he turns towards her. She points toward the front entrance.

Oh. His cheeks warm up as he follows her out the door. He'd been distracted by the cakes near the window.

They're walking back down the street, towards the park they passed by earlier.

"Any particular reason why we're here?"

She doesn't answer right away which makes him nervous.

"Emily?" He calls.

No answer.

His chest tightens and heartbeat quickens as he jog walks towards the playground.

"Emily!"

She appears from behind the yellow slide.

"Are you alright?" she asks, looking completely befuddled as he catches up to her. "You're out of breath!"

"Please don't run off like that again," he breathes heavily, placing his hand on the slide. "You scared me!"

"I'm sorry," she apologises, smiling sheepishly. "I had to make sure it was still there."

"What do you mean?"

"You won't freak out, will you?" she asks. Her thumb hovers over the doorknob.

"I won't," he says. "I promise."

She wordlessly holds her hand out for him to take which he does without any hesitation.

She opens the door that's carefully hidden in between a few bushes and his breath hitches as he finds himself staring at an endless sea of grass.

The park is nowhere to be found.

~*~

Gayathrik: What a coincedence, I use the moblie version too! Writing on the app is admittedly frustrating because the app doesn't have autocorrect, oddly enough, so there might be a few typos I don't even see until after I publish it.Dx Emily definitely isn't part owl but that's a good theory though! :) Edmund is refferring to Calormen, so sorry about that misspelling!


	7. Chapter Seven

~*~

Chapter Seven

~*~

A wave of nostalgia hits him in his gut as he trudges along the tall grass. Little balls of light were floating up to the sky around him, joining with the sun. It takes time for him to adjust his eyes to the blinding light.

He's home again.

But, at the same time, it didn't feel like home.

"Where... where are we?" he asks. His heart is pounding painfully in his chest.

He has to make sure that he isn't there. That he isn't dreaming this. That it isn't just a cruel trick to help him with his homesickness.

"Selcarim," she grins. "It's amazing isn't it?"

He merely nods his head, too speechless. He's still taking it all in. He can smell the salty sea air when a breeze brushes against his cheeks. He hasn't been near a beach since his days in Narnia. He's never found time to relax since most of his time went towards his studies.

"It is amazing," he says breathlessly.

"The castle's not too far," she tells him. "this place belongs to the gryphons and to the unicorns... to some extent."

"To some extent?"

"I've never really seen them," she admits, "but I know they're around. They're pretty shy."

A loud roar comes from above him and he thought it might've been Aslan for a moment. A golden bird emerges from the clouds and swoops down at them.

"Hello, Alden," Emily greets the magnificent beast.

"The others have missed you, little one," the gryphon says in a smooth, rich voice. He nudges her shoulder and purrs as she strokes the back of his ears. "they're always worried that you might not come back one day. "

"I'll always come back," her forehead barely touches Alden's beak.

"Who's your friend?"

"Oh!" she exclaims. "Alden, this is Peter! Peter, this is Alden."

"It's a pleasure," Peter waves awkwardly.

"Well, any friend of Emily's is a friend of ours," Alden hums. His golden eyes are examining him. "Are you here to help us?"

"Help you?" Peter frowns. "With what?"

Emily stiffens when he glances at her. She averts her eyes, burying her face in Alden's fur.

"We've been... having problems in this world lately," she admits. "A lot of the gryphons have been disappearing."

"Has there been a lot of fighting?" Peter asks, raising his brows.

"There hasn't been a lot of fighting," Emily admits. "But there are... dark creatures from another world. He only wears a cloak so we don't know what he looks like."

"I think it's best if we lay low," Alden sighs. "We don't know what they're capable of yet."

"Why would they harm the gryphons?" Peter asks. "Why even start a war if this is a peaceful country?"

"You can do whatever you want here in Selcarim, " Alden tells him. "Some just choose to take advantage of it."

"And they're hurting the others," Emily chimes in. "If you don't want to help you don't have to, Peter."

"If people are getting hurt, I want to help," Peter assures her.

"This is such good news," Alden trills excitedly, nudging his head against Emily's shoulder. "I'll tell the others right away!"

"Be safe, Alden," she tells the bird.

"I'm always safe, little one," Alden chuckles. "I'll be off now."

"Alden, wait!" he calls the bird as he wants for Emily to find the door. "Has the name 'Aslan' ever been mentioned at all?"

"Hmm, I can't say I have heard of it ," Alden replies. "I'll be sure to pass the name along to the others to see if they've heard anything. But don't get your hopes up."

"Thank you," Peter says heartily. "I appreciate it."

"Watch over her, will you?"

"I will."

Alden nods, flaps his large wings, and takes off to the sky with a loud, trilling caw.

"You coming, Peter?" Emily calls for him softly.

"Alright," Peter says hesitantly. He's been there for a few hours and he already doesn't want to leave.

He takes her hand and she guides him through the gate.

Then they're both in the real world. Moonlight glistens onto the street and a few streetlamps were lit up, casting an orange glow.

"Why would you show me that place?" he asks.

She gestures over to the swing set and they both take a seat, swaying back and forth but not going too fast. The cool air is welcomed after spending some time in the heat.

"Because you're different from the others," Emily answers. "and... you seem lost."

"Is it that obvious?"

"You hide it well but it's in your eyes," she bites her lip.

It's frightening how much she actually knew about him. Did he make it so obvious and his friends never told him?

"How long have you known that place?"

"Since I was a kid," her eyes are distant as she's remembering. "My father discovered the park. We used to live in Cambridge. He always took us here to because he loved it so much and before I knew it, we were living here. The bakery's his really. But... not after the war. My brother and my mum look after it for him."

"Brother?" Peter perks up at this.

"Brandon," she nods. "He usually goes out...we...don't get along that well."

He knows about sibling rivalry all too well. His chest tightens as he thinks of his brother, how he acted before Narnia. The magical country changed them all and he isn't even sure it's a good change.

"My father fought in the war too," Peter admits.

"Do you think they ever met?" Emily's lips quirk up as she giggles softly. "It'd be quite funny if they did, don't you think?"

"It'd be ironic if they did, yes," Peter agrees with a soft chuckle.

They both look up at the sound of laughter nearby. Peter nearly gags when he sees the couple flirting with each other. Noah and Karen keep staring at each other when they think the other's not looking. Margot's rolling her eyes and shaking her head at them.

"They're always telling me to be more "wittier", " she admits. "but I don't have a clue what that means."

He follows her gaze to where Margot and Karen are standing, giggling and nudging each other by the window.

"Hey, Emily?" he hopes to distract her. "You shouldn't listen to what Margot tells you. You're actually really easy to talk to."

"You are too. "

"Oi, better hurry it up, you two!" Noah calls out to them. They both jump at his voice. He's standing in the bakery with a brown bag in his hands. "Karen and Margot are almost done getting dessert!"

"We'll be there in a second!" Peter shouts.

He sighs heavily at the wolf- like grin on his friend's face. Noah goes back inside the bakery, leaving the two standing there awkwardly.

"Do you know a place called 'Narnia?'"

"What's a 'Narnia?'" her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

So much for that. How can he know if Aslan's calling for him again? He just didn't understand. Why even say he's not allowed back if he's called back?

"It's nothing... just a word I made up," he purses his lips. It hurt him, calling Narnia something made up. Aslan, forgive him.

"It sounds like more than just a word to you though," she frowns.

"Don't worry about it," he smiles at her. "alright?"

"... alright."

They walk towards the bakery together, hardly noticing how close they were to one another.

"You two have been gone an awfully long time," Noah comments when Emily's out of ear shot, practically grinning from ear to ear.

"Shut up."

Noah wriggles his eyebrows at Peter.

Peter merely ignores him as he searches the bakery for chocolate scones or biscuits to take home.

~*~

GayathriK: lol, yeah Margot isn't likeable at all, she does have a small role in the series, but not until much later. The gate is there all the time but only Emily knows what's beyond it. Ooh, I should have made that clearer, Noah, Margot,and Karen are still getting sweets in the bakery. xD


	8. Chapter Eight

~*~

Chapter Eight

~*~

Since he's met Karen and Emily, he's been enjoying riding the train to school more. Their witty conversations make it bearable to get through the long ride.

He mutters soft "excuse me's" and "sorry's" whenever he accidentally bumps into someone walking through the corridors. He peaks his head through the windows in hopes of seeing a familiar brunette. Sure enough,she's there in the same compartment reading a book every day. Karen's no where to be found.

She's been sitting by herself lately. He frowns and lightly taps on the window. Emily looks up and her face lights up when she smiles. She gets up from her seat and opens the door.

"Good read?" Peter returns her smile as she opens the door wider for him to go through.

"They've got me reading Shakespeare," she points to her book.

"Shakespeare, really?"

"Thanks to the play we saw," she says. "It's all rather fascinating once you get used to the old language."

"Are you a new fan of Romeo and Juliet?"

She presses her lips in a thin line and scrunches her nose,"Well, except for that."

Peter laughs at the distaste in her expression.

"But I can see why Karen's a fan of Hamlet," Emily admits.

"You two are rather close, aren't you?"

"We've been friends since secondary school," a ghost of a smile spreads on her face. "we had to sit in alphabetical order. It's how we met."

"She's not here today?" He frowns. He didn't even see the blonde when he got inside the train.

"She's with your friend, Noah," she mutters. Her fingers tap rhythmically on the book's spine.

"How's everything with Selcarim?" He asks.

His smile falters slightly when Emily frowns and at the worried expression on her eyes.

"Alden says we shouldn't fight," she says. She shakes head in disproval.

"You don't agree with him?"

"There's... been a lot of stuff stolen, mostly weapons," she explains. He notices how she clutches her book closely towards her chest. "and more of them are disappearing. I don't want to them to fight at all but at the same time..."

"Do you want me to try reasoning with Alden?"

"Could you?" she asks. "Maybe talk to the other gryphons as well?"

"I can try but I can't promise anything," he admits.

"Just talking to them would be enough."

As the train whistle blows and tires squeak to a stop, Peter and Emily grab their things and head off towards the sliding doors and into the new station. They're instantly greeted with a large crowd of teens their ages, who are shrieking with laughter and talking over each other.

"Emily!" Karen's loud voice makes them both look over.

Peter sees the blonde wave over at them while standing on her tippy toes despite being one of the tallest girls in the crowd. He waves back at her with a small smile.

"I better get going," Emily has an apologetic expression on her face.

"I'll try to meet with you after school if I can," he says.

"Alright," she nods her head in understanding. She waves awkwardly. "Good luck on your try outs."

"Thank you," he says gratefully.

He stares after her until she vanishes with Karen in the crowd.

"I saw that."

Peter jumps and whirls around only to relax when he sees Noah leaning against the wall.

"Saw what?" Peter asks dryly, raising an eyebrow.

"That," he gestures over to the large crowd. "What you and Emily were doing just now."

"Talking?"

"Nope, that cute little awkward wave you both did just now," he coos.

"That didn't mean anything, Noah," he sighs exasperstedly.

"Are you sure about that?" Noah smirks,placing an arm around Peter's neck. " 'Cause I saw differently."

"You're imagining things."

"You're in denial," Noah songsongs.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"So did you study for our English test?"

"That's today?!"

He has to listen to Noah's panicking for the rest of the walk to class but he'd rather listen to that to what they were discussing before.

He takes a deep, shaky breath as he and Noah walk through the crowd of people. It's not as crowded as the theatre last weekend but enough to set him on edge. His feet tap anxiously on the squeaky floorboards and his leg bounces up and down.

"Alright, boys," the coach approaches them, holding a clipboard in his hands. He mutters to himself as he flips through the papers before addressing them. He's a tall man with a clean shaven face, dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes."First things first, fencing isn't an easy sport. In this team, there's a lot of running, a lot of footwork, and a lot of discipline. And if you can't keep up with us, you might as well leave right now."

The boys around Noah and Peter were staring at the man with their jaws slack. There were a few mutters of "Is he serious?" and "You've got to be bloody joking!"

"No, I'm not serious, that's a star for Christ sakes," the coach smirks."This is an intermideate team. So you have to at least know the basics before we do anything else. Everyone grab a sword from the case! Go on then, hop to it, and stand in a straight line!"

He blows the whistle and the boys are immediately on their feet. Peter winces as shoes squeak loudly across the floorboards. He and Noah have been separated from each other as everyone scrambles to get in a straight line.

Fitzgerald tells them to advance and they all take a step forward in unison. Some boys around him were a little awkward with their footing but managed alright. They do this a few more times until they're told to stop. Their are a few groans as the boys all stretch their sore muscles.

"Only the best fighters will get to compete," Coach Fitzgerald says. His booming voice bounces off the gym walls. "Now I'm going in alphabetical order. When you hear your names called, step into the blue mat and wait for instructions. Aberforth, you're up!"

A tall, lanky boy slowly gets up from the bleachers.

Peter taps his foot against the empty bench beneath him as each boy gets called up.

"Relax, will you?" Noah says from beside him.

"I can't," Peter admits.

"Oh, come on," Noah encourages him. "You want to impress Emily with your manliness, don't you?"

"I'm not trying to impress anyone," Peter answers dryly.

"Of course you aren't," Noah pats his back roughly.

"Pevensie, you're up!" The coach bellows.

"Be careful,mate, don't die out there!"

Peter rolls his eyes and takes a shaky, deep breath before approaching his opponent. He spreads his feet apart in a battle stance and anxiously waits for his opponent to make his first move.

They both nod at each other and wait patiently.

"Salute!" Fitzgerald bellows.

In almost perfect unison, they twirl the swords in their hands until the tips are facing down on the ground.

"Ready, go!" Fitzgerald blows on the whistle. "Fence!"

They advance and their swords meet in a dull "clang!" before Fitzgerald blows the whistle again to stop. Peter can hear the boys muttering to each other and gasping slightly. He can see the coach nod his head in approval.

"Ready, go!" Fitzgerald repeats "Fence!"

They rush at each other again but the boy manages to jab Peter in the stomach. He makes the mistske of aiming for the boy's head and the boy stabs his shoulder. Peter winces. If only Edmund and Orius could see him now. They'd be laughing at him. Focus, Pete, he tells himself. Just pretend you're back in Narnia.

He manages to jab the boy once in his shoulder and his leg. There was a few scattered applause around them as they finish their final blow.

They shake each other's hands.

"You're pretty good, Pevensie," the boy complements, breathing heavily. "Name's Richard."

"Thanks, you were great too," he says and means it. It's not every day someone could outmatch him in swordplay. No one in Narnia could do that.

"By Jove, you were actually really good, wicked fast too," Noah claps him on the back. "Have you ever done this before?"

"No," Peter says breathlessly. He wipes some sweat from his forehead.

"The list will be on the doors first thing in the morning." Coach Fitzgerald says, nodding at the notes he made. "Anyone who makes the list, head for the gym right after school."

Peter winces as his friend claps him on the back. He's definitely going to be sore in the morning.

~*~

GayathriK: Nope, it's a completely different World which was why Peter knew there was something off about it. She's a visitor who checks up on the gryphons every now and then. Nope, no prophecies in this world!


	9. Chapter Nine

~*~

Chapter Nine

~*~

Peter's muscles were still sore when he got to school that morning. He didn't get to see Emily on the train which he thought was a bit odd. She's usually there at the same spot almost every day.

He gets out of his last class of the day, maths, with eager. He gathers up his things from his desk and leaves the classroom in a hurry to get to the gym.

"Peter!" Emily calls to him. "Peter!"

He freezes in his tracks at her urgent tone. He whirls around only to find her waving and sprinting towards him from across the grass hill.

"Hi, Emily," he greets her when she catches up to him. "What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to you," she says. Her face is a bright crimson from the run.

"Do you think it could wait?" Peter asks, smiling apologetically. "I really need to go somewhere at the moment."

"It's about Selcarim!"

His smile falters at the mention of the magical country.

"What happened?"

"I can't contact with Alden." she fiddles with the strap on her navy blue bag. "Something's wrong. He always answers."

"Is that where you were this morning?" He frowns.

She nods her head, "I had a bad feeling," she says.

"He's never done that before?"

Emily shakes her head vigorously. Oh Aslan, why did this have to happen right now?

"I'm sorry, Em," he sighs. "It's over in an hour, do you think we can wait until then?"

"I--I've never missed the train ride with Karen before," she says with wide eyes.

"Never?" Peter frowns.

She shakes her head again like it's the last thing she doesn't want to do.

"If you want...we could ride the train together," Peter says. "I promise we can go to Selcarim right after."

She frowns and has a thoughtful look on her face as if she's considering it.

"Alright," she answers hesitantly. "The sooner we can get to Alden the better."

He meets up with Noah by the gym. There's a board on a grey stand next to the entrance. His breath hitches as his eyes dart across the paper

"Welcome, newbies," Coach Fitzgerald smirks as a few boys sit on the stands. "Now, I'm not one of those gym teachers that'll say "Welcome to Hell" (even though P.E. practically is) , so don't expect me to go hard on you on your first day. However, you boys all still need the physical stamina. So you'll be running laps every day at the start of practice for ten minutes. You'll be relearning the basics," here, a few boys groaned. He chose to ignore them. "then after that, you'll be able to learn a few fancy Hollywood moves. Then, you'll be able to fight each other(I know, I know, don't look so excited). And after you fight each other, you'll be able to compete."

Noah and Peter exchange knowing looks. They both knew very well what the other gym teachers were like. They'd both done rugby their first year and had to quit because they always came home with scars and bruises and angry mothers who won't tolerate that sort of violence.

"Enjoy your freedom while it lasts," Coach Fitzgerald. "You all aren't going to be left off the hook that easily. At ease before I change my mind!"

At the sound of his whistle, the boys all scramble to gather up their belongings and sprint for the exit.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Do all the teachers here have to make their students' lives miserable?" Noah complains as they walk out of the gym together. "Seriously, it's like they plot this at the start of the term!"

"What?" Peter raises his eyebrows. "Why'd you stop for?'

Noah's eyebrow quirks up when he spots Emily sitting by herself on the grass hill, reading. He glances over to Peter and gestures toward her silently for an explanation.

"I promised we'd go on the train together," Peter huffs at Noah's sly grin. "It doesn't mean anything!"

"Of course it doesn't!" Noah sing songs and nudges him. "Riding the train together means absolutely nothing."

"Are you taking the mickey, mate?" Peter frowns.

"Nope, of course not!" His huge grin says otherwise. "Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. I'm going to find Karen...right after I pry infirmation out of Emily. Oi, Emily!"

Before Peter can protest, Noah makes his way towards the quiet girl. She jumps at his voice and stiffens when he crouches down to her level. He can't even hear what they're talking about despite Noah's loud mouth. Her eyes widen as she suddenly glances over at him. Peter smiles sheepishly and waves at her. She waves back before turning her attention to Noah again. Noah waves him over. Peter swings his bag over his shoulder as he walks towards them.

"She's still a complete nutter," Noah whispers in his ear as soon as he reaches them. Peter stiffens and glares at him. "What? It's true!"

"Sod off!"

"Will do!" Noah salutes him mockingly. "See you around, Emily!"

She nods her head and gives him a tight lipped smile.

"Good luck," Noah mutters, clapping a hand on his back as he walks off.

Peter stares after him in disbelief, shaking his head. How did they ever become friends?

"Are you alright?" Emily asks, startling him out of his daze. "You look awful."

"I'm fine," he smiles faintly. "Alright?"

"It's...it's your friend, Noah," she admits. She stares at the empty spot the dark haired boy just resided. "He doesn't like barn owls. But when we first met, he said he did. Why lie?"

"He's like that," he tells her. "He's just strange sometimes."

"Hmm."

"He didn't day anything too horrible, did he?"

"No," she shakes her head. "It'll just...take some more time to get used to him is all."

"Don't I know it," he mutters.

"What?'

"Nothing, nothing," he grins. "Just talking to myself. Are you ready?"

She nods and returns his smile. He offers her a hand to help her up which she takes without hesitating.

*

It's a thirty minute wait for the train and when it finally approaches, Peter and Emily sit in their usual spot. There were few people on board in the afternoons and it's a relief.

Her mother wasn't behind the counter today. Instead, there was a tall, muscular man with dark hair and blue eyes, wiping the countertops with a cloth. The man looks up when the bell jingles as they walk in.

His pale blue eyes are glaring in his direction. Peter's shoulders tense.

"Who the hell are you?" he asks.

Funny. He wanted to ask him the same thing.

"Oh, Peter!" Mrs Jones exclaims when she opens the curtain that leads to the back door. Her dark hair is wrapped in a messy bun with a few loose strands falling against her forehead and she's wearing a pink apron over her yellow dress. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"Hello, Mrs.Jones," he greets her politely.

"You know him, mum?" Brandon asks, bewildered.

"Yes, he came here last week with Emily!" Mrs. Jones replies. "From ...from a play, wasn't it? With two others?"

"Yes, that's right," he answers with a grin. "We were all on a double date." Which isn't a lie, he didn't mention who he was on a date with just to get a rise out of Emily's brother.

"Oh, son of a Ceaser's gho--!" there's a loud clatter that sounded like a plastic tray dropping on the floor. The trio turn towards Brandon who slowly gets up from behind the counter and smiles at them sheepishly. There's flour smudged on his face and swirling around in the air around him.

"Language, Brandon!" Mrs. Jones scolds, smacking him lightly with a cloth. "Honestly, I don't know where you get it from!"

"Sorry, mum," he says earnestly.

"Just, go get cleaned up," Mrs Jones sighs. Wrinkles appear on her forehead when she does.

Brandon wordlessly leaves through the back door. The pale green curtain flutters in the air with his movement.

"Feel free to go in the back," Mrs Jones smiles. "I'll clean up in here."

"Sure, you'll be okay, mum?" Emily asks, gesturing for Peter to follow her.

"I'll be fine, dear," her mother says. "Go on! Off you get!"

Emily nods, giving her mother one last glance before walking through the curtain. Peter follows her without hesitation.

When he walks through, he's greeted with a long hallway with two doors on each side. At the end of the hall was a kitchen with a round dining table that's only meant for four people. The walls were also a mint green colour with golden swirls and pink roses on the wallpaper. It's so much different from the beige walls he was used to in his family home.

"Sorry, Peter," Emily apologises. "Selcarim might have to wait a little longer."

"Don't worry about it, it's my fault for making us wait," he shrugs his bag off his shoulders. "Would they mind if I put my bag here?"

"No, not at all," Emily nods.

He places his bag on one of the white chairs by the table

Mrs. Jones comes rushing back in the room with several dishes in her hands. The lingering smell of chicken soup and freshly baked bread fills his nostrils and it's only then he realises how hungry he was.

"Would you like any help with that?" Peter asks politely.

"You shouldn't be helping!" Mrs. Jones scolds. "You're our guest!"

"It's no trouble at all, Mrs. Jones," he smiles. He takes a few plates and silverware off her hands and heads for the dining table.

It's awkward as Peter helps Emily's mother set the dishes around the table. He notices several family picture frames plastered on the mint green walls and all over the cabinets. A lot of them focused on a man in a brown uniform. He's taller than Brandon and had the same dark hair and pale blue eyes and serious expression on his face. The only times that man smiled is when he's around his family. Peter's father was the same way, always serious but cracked a few good jokes around the dinner table, especially during the holidays.

"That's us before," Emily says, startling him from his deep thoughts. "the war, I mean."

"What happened?"

"We got a letter and he never came back," Emily's voice cracks slightly. "We ...we haven't been the same since."

He understands in an instant.

Brandon enters the room with several dish trays and a bowl of freshly baked bread. He places them on the table with a particularly loud bang that makes Emily jump.

"Sorry," Brandon shrugs.

"No problem," Peter replies stiffly.

The four gather around the small dining table. Peter sat in between Emily and Brandon and Mrs. Jones sat across from them.

"Any particular reason why you're still here?" Brandon asks.

"I was invited," Peter says.

"Would you like to stay the night?" Mrs.Jones asks with a small smile. "I don't think the trains run this late."

"I don't mind," Peter smiles. But Macready might. He winces inwardly. "The trains stop running by ten."

"You're welcome to stay here any time you'd like."

"I appreciate that, thank you."

"Ever fought in any wars?"

"Brandon," Mrs. Jones warns. She averts her eyes, suddenly finding the coasters on the table more interesting.

"I've fought in plenty," Peter stiffens.

"Oh really? I figured you didn't 'cause you looked around fifteen."

"I'm eighteen!" Peter exclaims indignantly.

"You don't act like you are," Brandon comments.

"Funny, you don't seem much older than I am."

"I don't think I ever saw you in the front lines."

"That's because--!" Peter stops himself before he can say anything more. Because I fought wars back in Narnia. By the mane, he couldn't imagine the strange looks he'd get just blurting out that he's been in a magical land.

"I don't know who you are but I don't think you have a right to be here prancing about like you're some kind of High King!" Brandon snarls.

"I think I'm old enough to understand how wars work!"

"You don't know anything about them!"

"Yes, I do!" Peter argues.

He's about to argue more but stops himself when Emily tugs gently on his sleeve. She shakes her head in warning and his anger simmers down.

"Yeah, I can't believe we're having dinner with this shi--"

"Brandon!" their mother shouts. "Language!"

"Sorry, mum," Brandon says but doesn't sound apologetic. He stands up from his seat, wiping his mouth with his napkin. "please, excuse me."

"Brandon, do you like barn owls?" Emily asks out of the blue.

He freezes in his tracks but doesn't turn around, "you know I do, Emily," Brandon says softly and more calmly.

"Then don't question it," Emily says. Peter looks at her in concern, noticing her arms shaking. "They know what they're doing!"

"Whatever you say, Em," Brandon sighs wearily."I'm going out, mum."

"Wha--? I don't --! Brandon!"

He leaves the three behind in an awkward, tense silence.

"Well, I think we can call it a night," Mrs. Jones says with a shaky tone. She slowly gets up from her seat. "I can take your plate if you want."

"Are you sure you don't want any help, Mrs. Jones?" His anger is completely gone at the elder woman's look of defeat.

"Thank you, dear you don't have to," she gently squeezes his shoulders. "If you two need me, I'll be heading over next door. Mrs. Hartley usually buys her sweets at this hour."

"Alright, mum," Emily says quietly.

Peter thanks her and gives her the plate, allowing the older woman to walk away. Now it's just the two of them. He sneaks a glance at the girl beside him.

"I still want to help her," Peter heads into the kitchen and sees the unwashed dishes piling up by the sink.

Mrs. Jones isn't anywhere to be found.

"Sorry about him," Emily says. He jumps when she steps up beside him and grabs a washcloth and a plate. "he's just a little..."

"Arrogant?" Peter offers with a small grin on his face. He also takes a plate and starts scrubbing. "Superior?"

"I was going to say temperamental," her lips quirk up, "but your suggestions works too," Her eyes widen in horror at what she just said. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't talk about him like that."

"It's alright," Peter nudges her with a small smile. "You had a valid reason for it."

"It still didn't make it right," she frowns. "He's still my brother."

"Siblings fight all the time," Peter shrugs, "It's perfectly normal."

She's gone quiet again. She lowers the plate on her hands with a distant expression on her face.

"Are we really normal?" Emily asks softly.

He isn't sure if she wanted an answer or was aware if he heard her. She's staring out into space.

"You okay?" He asks just as soft.

His voice is like a trigger because she perks up and washes the dish again.

"Em?"

Her shoulders visibly tense, "Sorry," she tilts her head in his direction. "I got distracted."

"It's alright," he tells her.

"You always say that," she points out with a smile. She splashes him with water.

"Hey!" He protests, chuckling as he does the same to her.

Their faces were dripping wet by the time they've finished drying the dishes.

"I'm sorry too," Peter apologises.

"For what?" She asks.

"My siblings always told me that I had a temper," he admits. "I'm beginning to think they're right."

"You have siblings too?"

"Three, two sisters and a brother."

"Do you...ever fight?"

"All the time," he says. "they were all about the silliest stuff,. really. But one time ...it went too far."

He doesn't go on about what he meant and she doesn't ask which he's greatful for.

"It is normal then?"

"Yeah, we never mean to fight. Sometimes it just happens." Peter sighs heavily. "Siblings are annoying like that."

"You ready to go?" Emily asks as she ties her hair into a ponytail. He has a feeling she doesn't want to talk anymore about the subject and nods.

"You're not going to tell your mum we're going?"

She surprises him by shaking her head.

"I usually don't tell her."

"I never thought you were the rebellious type!" His jaw drops in awe.

"I didn't think it was rebellious," she frowns. "She usually knows I go to the park at night but she doesn't know about Selcarim."

"She lets you go?"

"Yes, of course," she confirms. "Why wouldn't she?"

"No particular reason," Peter's frown deepens.

He finds himself back in the familiar park. It feels like it's been ages since he's last been here even though it's only been a week. She glances around as if she's making sure no one sees her opening the lone door in between the bushes. He follows after her.

Emily stops dead in her tracks in front of him. He nearly bumps right into her but stops himself in time.

"What's wrong?"

She surveys the area, squinting at something in the distance.

"Do you see that?"

Peter glances at where she's pointing. He squints his eyes as well and cranes his neck to see.

"See what?"

"That!"

He does notice something in the horizon line. A bright green flash strikes towards their direction.

"Look out!"

Peter is suddenly knocked off his feet. Green smoke emerges from the ground between them and Emily's no longer by his side.

~*~

GayathriK: Oh sure no problem! Richard doesn't have a big role in the story but won't show up until later as well :) lol! I'm glad you caught that, I couldn't resist adding a Sirius reference, I had way too much fun writing the coach xD No humans, they started appearing when Emily showed up, can't reveal much until a certain scene happens but I can tell you the world was made specifically for her though! You know, I'm still kind of confused about the Eagles in LOTR? Do they come to help them when the situation is really bad or only when Gandalf asks them to? The gate actually just opens up to a shed!

~*~


	10. Chapter Ten

~*~

Chapter Ten

~*~

He lands on his side painfully and a silent scream rips from his throat. What on earth was--? He turns so that he's lying on his stomach. The thick smoke makes his eyes sting and he clenched his jaw as he slowly lifts himself up from the ground. He couldn't see anything in the smoke.

"Emily?!" He shouts. Peter stiffens when she doesn't answer right away. "Emily!"

"Peter?"

Oh, thank Aslan!

"Peter, where are you?" She asks.

"Over here!"

Emily stumbles through the fog towards him. He jogs to her and tackles her in a hug, nearly knocking them both over.

"You alright?" Emily cranes her neck to stare up at him. She barely reaches his shoulders.

"I'm fine," he mumbles in her hair. Peter backs out of the hug when she steps away. "You?"

"I'm alright," Emily mutters. She holds her arm out and rolls up her sleeve. He winces at the blood dripping down her arm. "Just a scrape from when I landed. You sure you're alright, Peter?"

"I'll be fine," he nods. "What was that?"

"I don't -- I don't know," Emily frowns. Her eyes dart around quickly for the culprit. She tugs on Peter's sleeve and he glances over at her, only turning when she points at something in the distance.

A man was standing on the cliffside, staring down at them with a glowing blue sword in his hands. He's covered half his face with his olive green scarf and has a green hood over his head. The only thing Peter can see are his pale blue eyes. The rest of him is covered up in a green cloak. Peter's shoulders tense as they lock eyes. Funnily enough, Peter didn't see malice in them only curiosity. Which only meant he was just as confused about them as they were about him.

"I've never seen him around before," Emily says with a puzzled frown.

"Do you think he's the one causing all the trouble?"

"He has to be...he...Peter, look out!"

Peter turns around in time to see a giant green fireball heading his way. Emily pushes him and he leaps off his feet, breathing heavily as he cranes his neck when he hears a loud roar from the fire behind him. There's a large brown spot were a patch of grass used to be.

"What do we do?" Emily shouts from the other side of the fire.

Peter doesn't reply right away. The masked man jumps down from the cliff with a bow and arrow in his hands. Peter's jaw drops when the bow transforms back into a sword. How'd he--?

"Peter?" Emily calls to him nervously.

"Run!" Damn, if only he had a sword of his own.

"What?"

The masked man's gloved hand glows blue as he aims right at them.

"Run! We have to run for now!"

Another fireball is tossed their way. Peter ducks his head in time as he sprints forward with Emily close beside him. As he runs, he sees the masked man jump down from the cliff, landing gracefully on his feet. There's something familiar about his movements that Peter can't quite figure out. He's heading right for them in quick strides, carefully dodging the tall trees surrounding them. He's dangerously closer to Emily.

"Emily!" He shouts. She glances at him in confusion, startled, and gasps when Peter jumps in front of her.

He really needed a sword now!

A glowing blue sword of his own appears in his hands as soon as he thought of it. He stares at it with wide eyes, mesmerised by the colour. He hears a soft hum and aims it diagonally towards the sky and the two swords collide with a sharp but dull "clang!" that makes Peter's hands shake. The masked man takes advantage of this distraction and slices his shoulder. Bits of his long sleeved shirt are torn apart. Peter cries out and his face twists as he clutches the injury.

"Who are you?" The man questions. Peter wasn't expecting such a smooth, deep voice from him.

Emily shouts his name before he can reply. A loud trilling caw rings in his ears as Alden swoops down at them from the sky. He stands in front of Peter and Emily protectively, spreading out his golden wings, and swipes at the man furiously with his giant claws.

"See you around, Peter," the man says. Peter tenses up and stares at the man with wide eyes as he vanishes in a dark blueish purple mist.

It's quiet for a moment as they wait for an unexpected attack. None came. Peter cries out as a sharp pain stings his shoulder from his wound earlier.

"Are you alright?" Emily gives him a concerned look. Her fingers gently brush against his shoulder. Peter cries out again and shuts his eyes, scrunching his face as he fought the pain. "I-I m sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Not...your fault," he manages to say through gritted teeth.

She shakes her head and tackles him in a hug. He stumbles back with a soft grunt, unprepared for it.

"What were you two thinking?" Alden chides, shaking his head in disapproval. "You were both reckless."

"Sorry, Alden," Emily apologises as lets go of Peter and buries her face in Alden's warm fur. "He came out of nowhere."

"Who was that man?" Alden asks. His golden eyes soften and he speaks more gently than earlier.

"He's the one causing trouble," Peter says when the pain dulls.

"We've found the culprit," Emily nods in confirmation.

Alden doesn't say anything at first. He merely sighs and bows his head in defeat.

"I'm sorry, Alden," Peter offers after a tense silence. "I know you didn't want to fight."

Alden regards him warily and shakes his head.

"Come, climb on my back and hold tight," Alden bows his head. "I know a safer place."

Peter and Emily do as their told without hesitating and Alden takes off. He clutches onto Alden's fur tightly. It'll take some time getting used to flying again. Peter glances down at the spot where the man vanished, trying to distract himself from the pain. There's still a small trace of blue smoke from where he stood. It's the last thing he sees of the ground before it disappears within the clouds.

*

It's quiet the entire flight. Peter glances over at Emily every now and then to make sure she's okay. She's holding on to her arm and her face is pale from the blood loss. Now that the adrenaline rush is over, he can feel the painful throb in his shoulder.

"Hold on tight you two!" Alden shouts. "We're almost there!"

Peter looks up. A gold light shimmers in the clouds and the top of a tall, white tower pops through. On the grounds below were several winged horses galloping in the grass fields and gryphons napping on the boulders. Alden lands on the ground, startling a few creatures because of a thump loud enough to shake the earth beneathe their feet.

They were pointing at him and whispering. And Peter didn't blame them. He's a stranger in their world.

"Any news, Alden?" A rich, feminine voice came from one of the white winged horses. She bravely approaches him.

"They've seen him." Alden answers solemnly and there's an instant uproar.

"What did he look like?!"

"Why did he invade our land?"

"Who is he?" That last one was directed at Peter and he did not like the accusation in the silver horse's eyes nor his tone.

"Please, give them some room," Alden says calmly. "They've been injured."

"Em?"

She jumps at his voice and whirls around as if she'd forgotten he's still there standing with her. She nods and leads him to the castle, into the foyer.

The foyer had long blue drapes mounted on the stone walls. A faded blue rug covers the grandstair case. She leads him to the room on the left which had a small bookcase and a blue reading chair. Emily goes through the cabinets and reaches for a glass vial with a blue liquid inside.

"How long has this castle been here?" Peter asks. His voice bounces off the walls.

"For a while now," Emily answers. "We needed a place to stay temprorarily and it appeared one day."

"Does that always happen?"

"All the time," Emily grabs one of the chairs and faces him.

"A sword appeared in my hands when I--" he stops himself. _When I tried to protect you,_ his cheeks warm at the thought. Emily must have noticed because she clears her throat awkwardly and averts her eyes.

"It appeared when you needed it the most," her cheeks turn pink. "Are you sure you're alright? That looks awful."

"I should be asking you that," he nods to the burn marks on her arm.

"May I?" she asks hesitantly.

He nods and she pours the liquid onto his shoulder. He hisses at the sharp sting.

"Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," he grits his teeth.

"I'm sorry to bother you both," Alden interrupts them.

He and Emily both jump away at his voice.

"You aren't bothering us," Peter says quickly.

"Why would you be?" Emily frowns.

"I know how busy you both are," Peter blushes at Alden's sly grin. "Everyone wants to meet you, Peter."

"Alright," Peter agrees and waits for Emily to finish packing up and holds the door for her as she followschim through.

"Everyone, this is the boy we've chosen to fight with us," Alden breaks the silent tension with his deep voice.

"How do we know that the Masked Stranger isn't just another one of his kind?" a burgandy gryphon growls in his direction.

"We don't," Alden turns toward the gryphon that spoke, making himself seem bigger. "Which is why we need them to find out."

"Do we know where he is right now?"

"He usually takes a portal to the Other Realm," the female winged horse answers.

"How do I get there?"

"Why, do you plan on fighting him yourself?" Her stare intimidates him but he stands his ground, matching hers with one of his own.

"I still think fighting is a bad idea," Alden steps forward, sighing heavily.

"We may not have a choice, my friend," the horse turns to Alden who hums softly in reply.

"I'll fight for you if you'd let me," Peter tells them, bowing slightly as a sign of respect.

"You'd trust this boy, Emily?" she asks, her blue eyes sharp with attention as she turns towards the quiet girl beside him.

"Of course I would," the finality in her voice makes Peter glace over at her with surprise.

"Then lead the way, Peter," the winged horse bows back to him. And the others are following in suit.

Peter's chest tightens to the point where it's getting harder to breathe. He's no longer in the forest. Instead, he's in a golden hall with the Beavers, and Mr. Tumnus, and the rest of their old friends bowing to him and his siblings.

"-eter! Peter!" Emily clutches his non injured shoulder with worry in her tone. "Are you alright? You look like you're going to be sick."

The golden hall and four thrones have vanished.

"I'm fine," he manages to tell her, his voice cracking as if he were about to cry. He ignores the worried whispers instead focuses on the girl in front of him. "I'm fine."

"If you're sure..." she hesitates as she steps back.

"You worry too much, you know," Peter teases. She turns a bit red and averts her eyes.

"Alden, is there anyway to get to the dark realm?" Peter asks once he composes himself.

"There is," Alden says, narrowing his golden eyes. "Why would you want to go there?"

"I need to try and reason with him," Peter says.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Alden hums in disapproval.

"What other choice do we have?" Peter asks softly.

"Keep her safe?" Alden nudges his side with his beak.

"I will," Peter smiles and pets the gryphon's fur.

Alden nods and takes off to the sky once more, making the leaves swirl in the air around them.

"You don't have to do that every time, you know," she sounds irritated but her blue eyes soften at him.

"I know, but it makes us feel better," Peter grins, nudging her playfully. She shakes her head at him.

"You're not really going to go to the Other Realm, are you?" Emily asks.

"You don't want me to?"

"I'd normally advise against this, yes," she agrees. "It's dangerous."

"Ready to go?"

Emily offers a hand to Peter who holds onto it without any question. She opens the door and the magical land disappears. The English countryside is in its place. Crickets are chirping in a rhythmatic song around them.

"I agree with Alden, you know," Emily says softly. "I really don't want to fight."

"Which is why I need to try and talk with him," Peter tells her. "to see if he can be reasoned with."

"Promise you won't go?"

"Alright." He sighs softly.

"Brandon's home," Emily steers the conversation away, glancing over at the bakery in surprise. He follows her gaze

Brandon's standing near the countertop, wiping it clean absentmindedly with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hullo, Brandon," she greets her brother.

"You mind if I talk to him for a bit, Em?" Brandon asks instead of greeting her back.

"Well, I guess...I'll just be off to bed," Emily says uncertainly, like she wants to stay. Peter silently pleads with her not to go but she doesn't understand his expression and quietly walks through the curtain.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier, Pevensie," Brandon apologises. "I was...I was having a bad day."

"It's alright," Peter shrugs.

"On the house."

He tosses a chocolate biscut at Peter who catches it with ease.

Peter stares at the dessert warily, "It's not poisoned, is it?"

"Now, why would I poison you?" Brandon asks innocently. "You seem like a decent bloke."

"I have no idea," Peter answers dryly.

"Don't worry, it's not poisoned," Brandon reassures him.

Peter shrugs and takes a bite out of it and drinks some of the water that the older boy had offered.

"But the water might be."

Peter chokes and spits out the water, coughing violently as some of the biscuit goes down the wrong pipe. Brandon bursts out laughing and Peter frowns at him.

"I'm just joking, mate," Brandon snickers, clapping a hand on his back, making Peter wince. "I couldn't resist. Sorry."

Oh, this family will be the death of him.

"How is Emily, by the way?" Brandon asks suddenly. "She's not bothering you, is she?"

"Why would she be bothering me?"

"It's just...she's different...and sometimes people don't like that."

"She isn't a freak if that's what you're implying," Peter glares at the tall man.

"Just promise me you'll look after Emily?"

Odd. He's getting some Dejavu from the question, recalling the Masked Man from the cliff.

"I will," and it's a promise he's intending to keep.

~*~

GayathriK: I think there was a reason why they couldn't use them, but yeah they are definitely confusing. Lol,right? Brandon doesn't know about Selcarim yet :)


	11. Chapter Eleven

~*~

Chapter Eleven

~*~

"Thanks for letting me stay the night, Mrs Jones," Peter wraps his arms around the elderly woman in a fierce hug the following morning. He's already dressed in his school uniform for the day and has his bag over his shoulder.

"It's no trouble at all!" She smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes, and breaks out of the hug first. "I only wish it wasn't such a poor evening."

"You don't have to worry about anything," Peter reassures her. "Brandon and I sorted it out."

"You have?" Emily asks with skepticism. But there's a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I think we did. " Peter whispers to her. "He almost poisoned me."

He'd been so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed Emily throwing him a look of horror. Truthfully, he doesn't know. Brandon's mood swings were worse than his own temper.

"Ha-have a good day, you two!" Mrs. Jones calls to them, waving goodbye.

They both say their thanks and goodbyes as they continue to walk down the street.

"It's a bit...odd," Emily says out of the blue.

"What is?" Peter raises his eyebrows.

"Having someone walk with me to the train," Emily's cheeks turn a bright crimson as she glances his direction but doesn't fully look at him.

"It's odd for me too," he tells her. "I'm always used to walking by myself."

"I always meet with Karen before the train comes," Emily fiddles with the blue strap on her bag. "But, it looks like she's not coming in the train again. And lately, she's been with Noah too."

A small frown appears on her face and her eyes dart around the area as if she were looking for someone. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion when she only sees the large crowd of students surrounding them.

"You know, Noah's not all bad," he admits softly. She turns towards him slightly but doesn't meet his eyes. He doesn't ever see her look into anyone's eyes properly. "He's rough around the edges, and sometimes rude to people when he doesn't realise it. But he's a good person once you get to know him."

"I don't want to get to know him," Emily whispers.

Peter isn't so sure he's supposed to hear that or not. He frowns. He couldn't understand her no matter how hard he tries.

Peter...

Aslan?!

Peter's eyes widen as something pinches his skin. Almost as if it were pulling him forward onto the tracks.

Peter!

He snaps out of it when he hears Emily's cry.

Her breath hitches as her foot accidentally slips off the ledge. The edge cracks and crumbles beneath her feet. She nearly falls onto the platform but Peter catches her in the nick of time, shouting her name, and yanking her back. They stumble into each other, falling back into the ground, earning a few concerned gasps and annoyed protests from people waiting for the train around them.

What on earth was--? Peter's eyes dart around wildly. That felt like magic! He'd heard Aslan call his name. He'd heard his roar with his own ears. Where was he?

A train whistle blares and Aslan's roar fades away as the train's tires squeal to a sudden stop. His shoulders slack and he sighs in disappointment. He was so sure.

"Oi!" They both jump as an officer wearing a blue uniform comes towards them with a frown on his face. "You two alright?"

"We're fine," Peter says breathlessly. That took a lot out of him more than it should have. Emily's just as breathless as he is, pushing back strands of her hair that had fallen from her ponytail when she did.

"Be careful," the officer continues, "We've been having problems with that ledge since last year."

"Don't worry, we'll be more careful," Peter says.

The officer just shakes his head, muttering something about teenagers having no respect. Peter scoffs at him, just as exasperated. Let them think what they want.

"You alright, Em?" He asks, still winded from the fall.

"I'm alright," she nods. "Really. "

She offers him her hand which he takes without hesitation. He lets her lead him to their usual compartment. They don't let go of each others' hands until they take their seats across from each other.

"What happened?" Emily questions. Peter glances over at her. "On the platform?"

"You felt it too, didn't you?" Peter asks hopefully. "The magic?"

"It's like something shoved me," Emily says. Her eyebrows knit together. "I've never felt such strong magic before...even in Selcarim."

"Just be more careful, alright?" Peter asks. "We don't know what that magic was."

"Alright," she says after an awkward moment.

It's silent between them the entire train ride.

*

"There's Karen," she points towards the blonde who's waving at them with a bright smile on her face. Noah's right beside her, mockingly waving at Peter who just rolls his eyes at him. Really, they'd just gotten off the train and Noah's already making a fool of himself. "Why is Noah doing that?"

"I swear I don't know him," Peter jokes.

"I thought you did," Emily says with a puzzled expression.

"I--nevermind," Peter shakes his head.

"Oh, that was a joke, wasn't it?" Emily realises.

"Yeah, it was a poor one anyway," Peter dismisses with a shake of his head. "Don't worry about it."

She quiets down, walking more slowly than before, and doesn't smile. Not even when Karen rushes over and throws her arms around her in a hug.

"Sorry for not meeting up with you earlier, Emily," Karen apologises. "I had a team meeting to go to."

"It's alright," Emily shrugs. "Peter was there with me."

"Oh really?" Karen gives him a smug smile, making his face warm up.

"So he was with you the whole train ride?" Noah prompts.

"Why does that matter?" Emily frowns at him.

"Oh, no reason," Noah turns towards Peter. "No reason at all."

"Right," Karen interrupts before they could head in a direction that could've made Peter extremely uncomfortable with. "Well, we should get to class. See you both after school?"

"You know it, doll," Noah says. He has to stand on his tippytoes to give her a kiss which makes the blonde giggle.

"See you, Karen," Peter says, smiling despite feeling awkward about them showing affection.

"See you later, Peter Pan," Karen laughs.

"You're never gonna let that nickname go, are you?"

"Nope, never," Karen winks at them and turns to the brunette girl who's frowning at them. "Coming, Emily?"

Emily jumps, startled at her voice, "Coming," she nods. She waves at Peter as she walks past them, towards the school across from theirs.

"I still think that meant something," Noah comments.

"It still didn't mean anything," Peter denies.

"Emily was totally jealous, by the way," Noah singsongs.

"You're imagining things!"

Peter stiffens as some students whisper and point at him as he walks through the crowd. Noah glares at the crowd, telling them to make way, and they scatter, having the decency to look ashamed.

"What was that all about?" Noah asks. "I don't think I've ever seen you so popular before, especially with girls."

"Thanks, Noah," Peter says dryly.

"Not that you aren't popular already with them already," Noah tries to quickly amend. "I've heard from Karen that girls used to talk about you all the time in St.Finbars."

What.

"Anyway," Noah stammers, clearing his throat. "you want to explain why they keep looking over at us?"

Peter raises his eyebrows at that and slowly cranes his neck towards the girls huddled over by a tree. They were giggling and waving at him. His cheeks warm up as he slowly turns away from them. Those girls had been on the station with him and Emily.They must have seen what happened.

"Maybe they think you look hideous," Peter comments.

"Me? Hideous?" Noah asks, quite affronted. "I'm bloody gorgeous!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Noah."

"What? I am! Karen thinks so!"

"Whatever you say, Noah!"

"Wha--? Don't you walk away from me!" Noah complains. "Oh come on! That gets old after awhile, mate!"

Peter merely grins as he walks through the front entrance and into the hallway, tossing his messenger bag over his shoulder, carefully avoiding the crowd of students around him as he makes his way to English Literature.

*

 _Dear Peter,_

 _Oh, it's so exciting to hear from you again! You don't have to send me a letter of my own, you know. I'm perfectly okay with the ones you send for Edmund and I. You both worry so much it's like you've forgotten that I was almost as old as you were back in Narnia._

 _Living with Eustace isn't so bad anymore. He used to drive us both mad with his scientific facts and it always hurt whenever he insisted that a place like Narnia could never exist. I'm so glad that he came to Narnia with us. He's changed so much and I like to think he's happier now._ _He's definitely curious about Narnia and wants to know more about it._

 _I'm so glad that you've decided to try out for the fencing team. I know how much you and Edmund loved sparring with each other, it'll be so good for both of you._

 _And who's this "Emily" Edmund keeps talking about? He says that you've been mentioning her a lot lately. I swear, it's almost like I know her already! I hope we can meet her one day!_

 _We're both thinking of coming up there in November, to check up on you and the Professor. I was hoping we could have a little Narnian get together of a sort. How is he, by the way? I hope the Macready hasn't been too horrible._

 _Write again soon when you aren't too busy!_

 _Love,_

 _Lucy_

*

GayathriK: lol, I didn't even realize the similarities at the time! But, yes, it does work kind of like the Room of Requirement. Ah, thanks for the feedback, I'm not too big on action scenes myself, especially for the battles that are coming up, I'm still iffy about them. Yeah, he definitely is that kind of guy. I hope the line breaks are working btw, sometimes they don't show up.


	12. Chapter Twelve

~*~

Chapter Twelve

~*~

Needless to say, when he did get back to the manor after school, he got caught by the Macready who shouted at him for disobeying rules and sent him straight to the Professor's study. By the lion's mane, he's eighteen years old! Practically an adult who didn't need scolding! He's told everyone countless times how much he hates being treated like a kid and yet, they insist on doing it.

"I think it's because you disrupt Mrs.Macready's need for order," the professor tells him when he vented his thoughts to him.

"Yes, well, she's an old bat!" Peter retorts with a frown on his face.

"And you still act like a child, though you say you aren't!" the professor points out at him, raising his eyebrows while smoking his pipe. Peter sighs exasperatedly.

"I'm just sick of it, sir," Peter admits, defeated.

"I know it's tough, m'boy," Professor Kirke says softly. "you just have to understand. Adults just don't like it when children act smarter than they are. They can't handle it."

"Wish they would, it'd make my life easier," Peter mutters.

"You're a king, aren't you?" Professor Kirke asks. "Then act like one!"

"I'm not a king here, remember, professor?" Peter sighs.

"Well, then to hell with them!" the professor exclaims, ignoring Peter's shocked protests. "We know a magical world, don't we? They don't! We know what we're talking about. And it should be damn time kids taught adults what they know instead of the other way around."

Peter can't help but smile at the old man's familiar saying of "what do they teach in schools these days?" and he silently agrees with him. His smile slowly fades as he thought of the masked man back in another magical world.

"Professor," Peter says. The old man hums in reply, lighting his pipe. "I think I've found Narnia again."

Here, the professor glances up from his work with interest.

"You've found it?"

"Well, I didn't actually find it," Peter admits. "My friend Emily led me there."

"By the lion's mane!" The professor mutters.

He gets up from his chair to pace around the room. His eyebrows knit together, deep in thought.

"You said that you couldn't go back to Narnia, correct? Heard it from Aslan himself?" Peter nods, frowning at the old man.

"Except I don't really believe it's Narnia," Peter admits with hesitation. "None of the creatures I've spoken to haven't even heard of Aslan."

"Interesting, very interesting, " the professor mutters. He finally stops pacing and stands by the stain glass window, staring at the grass hills. "Why say you can't go back if you've found another way in?"

"That's what's been bothering me, sir," Peter admits with a heavy sigh. His eyes dart across the mahagony walls and tall, brown bookshelves. "Emily says she's been going there since she was a kid. It never shows for anyone but her."

"And now you."

"She said that's never happened before," Peter says.

"Aslan always worked in mysterious ways."

"Do you think it's Aslan's doing?"

"Aslan always has a trick up his sleeve, m'boy, " the professor points the pipe at him. Peter could swear he sees some smoke lift into the air. "It's only up to us if we want to listen."

"I am listening," Peter protests. "I just wish I knew what I was listening for."

"Just listen for Him calling you," the professor says. "It happens alot, even when you're not paying attention. And judging by the look on your face, it's already happened."

Was that what happened at the train station? Was that what happened when they met Caspian? He was calling for him and he just wouldn't listen?

"Thank you, professor, for everything," he says earnestly.

"No need to thank me for anything, Pevensie," Professor Kirke smiles. His blue eyes twinkle with mischief as he places the pipe in his mouth. "Just keep your head on your shoulders."

Peter smiles sheepishly and gets up to leave. He stops when he reaches the door and whirls around.

"Oh, sir, " he calls to the older man who looks up at him. "I'm just letting you know that Edmund and Lucy might drop by for a visit. They're hoping for a little Narnian get together. If it's not too much trouble, that is."

"Oh, how delightful! " the Professor exclaims. "They're always welcome here! The more the merrier I say! Just be aware of the Macready."

"I'll break it to her gently, " Peter chuckles as he heads back to his room.

 _Dear Peter,_

 _Congratulations on getting on the top five to compete in your fencing team! I always knew you could do it. I just didn't want to say anything in case you got a big head about it. Oh, don't protest either! You know you do that sometimes! Need I need to remind you about last year. You know...the year you were a big prat who had things sorted? (You totally needed my help by the way. You couldn't have fought them all on your own, numpty!)_

 _It's odd, hearing about your adventures in Selcarim. It's almost like you've been called back to Narnia again and Aslan just didn't tell you about it. Do you think that may be the case? But I don't understand why he would just get our hopes up like that only to take it away again. That just doesn't seem like something He would because Aslan is Hope itself._

 _If they want you to lead, then you may have no choice. Sorry, Pete. You did promise that you'd keep them all safe. Just be careful, you don't want to hear Lucy or Susan nagging if you got hurt. I swear, they can be worse than mum sometimes!_

 _I did tell Lucy about Emily. Sorry! But you having a "lady friend" is kind of a big deal! Especially since it was her that possibly led you back to Narnia! I haven't told Lucy anything about Selcarim though. I just don't know if I should. I don't want to get her hopes up since Selcarim might not even be Narnia at all._

 _Did Lucy mention that we'll be coming to visit this month? It was supposed to be a surprise. But you know her, she has a loud mouth. Wait, she didn't say why we would be visiting, did she? Susan said she might be coming to visit on Christmas, but we can't be too sure about her. I don't know what goes on with her sometimes. Do you believe she might be trying to forget about Narnia?_

 _See you in about three more weeks. Hopefully, this letter would get to you by then._

 _Edmund_

*

 **Metroneko:** Thank you so much for your review! I'm not sure what you mean exactly. Did you mean if that was a reference to the Last book? It is! I highly recommend giving it a read because there might be spoilers for the last book if you don't know what happens. I'm glad you liked the chapter!

 **GayathriK:** Oh no worries! He has not mentioned anything to Lucy yet but he has talked to Edmund about it!

~*~


	13. Chapter Thirteen

~*~

Chapter Thirteen

~*~

"Oi, Pevensie!" Mrs. Macready shouts, banging on the door a few days later. "Are you decent? You have visitors!"

Vistors? Who on Earth--? Peter frowns and rushes towards the door to see the woman standing in the hallway with a stern expression that he's convinced is stuck on her face.

"I thought I had seen the last of you four when you left," she says with a heavy sigh.

"Sorry, Mrs. Macready," he chuckles. "I think you're stuck with us for a long while."

Mrs. Macready "harumphs" as she aggressively folds a blanket and enters the room across from his, muttering something about children having no discipline. He can't help but laugh, quite used to her behavior, and heads out the hallway, towards the front door. When he opens it, he sees a mop of black hair and brown curls.

"Ed? Lu?" He asks in disbelief.

They both cry out his name in unison and tackle him in a hug. He stumbles back, almost falling onto the carpet floor but catches himself before he does, holding onto the statue. Macready would have killed him for doing that.

"I thought you both weren't going to come here for another two weeks!"

"We wanted to surprise you," Lucy grins.

"I see the Macready is still as happy as ever," Edmund says as they both walk into the foyer.

"You have no idea," Peter snickers.

"How is the professor?" Lucy asks. "He knows that we we're coming, right?"

"I didn't even know you we're coming, Lu," Peter tells her with a straight face. It's awfully hard to bluff. His lips wanted to smile. "How would the professor know?"

"You didn't get our letters?" Lucy's jaw drops in horror. "We didn't want to come uninvited! That'd be so rude!"

Peter bursts out laughing. She glares at him.

"Honestly, you're so horrid!" Lucy smacks his shoulder. Peter winces. That had been his injured shoulder that's still store. Luckily for him, she didn't notice. "You've been spending too much time with Edmund and Noah!"

"I'm surprised you didn't wait until Christmas for the get together," Peter says as he sobers up. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind a holiday visit."

"You didn't tell him yet, did you?" Lucy sighs exasperatedly, glancing over at the just king.

"I was going to tell him later, I swear!"

"Oh, Edmund."

"What? I was!"

"Tell me what?" Peter asks as they walk towards the library.

"Well, we technically aren't here just for a visit," Lucy says, placing her bags on one of the brown leather couches.

"What do you mean?"

"I--um--tell him, Ed!"

"Alright, alright! No need to get all fussy about it!" Edmund laughs, mimicking her when she childishly sticks her tongue out at him. "I'm going to compete for my fencing team."

"You what?!"

"I got on the top five to compete too!" Edmund says.

"Congratulations!" Peter exclaims, hugging him. Edmund protests at the hug, complaining about being squished, but eases into it. "Wait--does that mean--?"

"We'll be competing against your school," Edmund says quietly.

The air thickens with tension around them. Lucy must've noticed because she shifts her feet around and bites her lip, staring at both of them worriedly.

"Is it alright if I place my bags in my room?" Lucy asks after an awkward silence.

"Yeah, sure it's down the hall to the left," Peter instructs her. "Make sure to say hi to the Macready for me if you see her."

"Will do!" Lucy says as she gathers up her things. "I'll be sure to tell her what you said as well."

"Are you mad, Lu? She'll kill him!"

"No, I'm certain that she likes us deep down inside," Peter says. "she just doesn't show it."

"It's probably because you both tease her too much," Lucy points out.

"Hah! Probably," Peter snickers.

Lucy merely rolls her eyes but still smiles fondly at them as she leaves the room in a quick stride. As soon as their backs are turned, Peter winces as his fingers brush over his injured shoulder. Edmund, however, notices when he whirls around.

"What?" Edmund asks, frowning. "What's wrong with your shoulder? Don't tell me it's dislocated again."

"It's just a scratch," Peter reassures him.

"The masked man?" Edmund guesses and his brown eyes narrow at Peter's nod.

"He attacked us," Peter massages his sore shoulder. To his surprise, the scar burn is hardly visible these days. "We weren't expecting it. Oh, stop it with that look, Ed! It's perfectly fine, I hardly feel a th--ARGH!"

He also wasn't prepared for Edmund to strike his injured shoulder. Peter hisses at the sharp sting that makes his entire arm numb.

"Perfectly fine, indeed," Edmund reports, raising his eyebrows. Peter glares at him.

"What's going on? What happened?" Lucy asks breathlessly. Her curls are a mess and cheeks are a bright red from running down the hallway. "I heard you shout, Peter!"

"It's nothing!"

"Ed hit me!"

The Pevensie brothers shout in unison which only makes her give them a puzzled frown in return. They stare at each other, quite sheepishly, before turning towards her.

"Sorry, Lu," Peter says.

"We we're just discussing Narnian life and Peter got sentimental."

Peter throws his younger brother a look of disbelief. Even Lucy didn't believe it judging by the skeptisim on her face.

"Yes, well, don't let the Macready hear you," Lucy says. "I really don't want to get yelled at on my first day here."

"She won't really yell at you, Lu." Edmund interjects. He points to himself and to Peter, "She'll yell at us."

"And you'd probably deserve it!" Lucy counters.

"I'm feeling the love here, sis," Edmund says, glaring at her mockingly. Lucy merely laughs as she heads out the door. "Honestly, Pete! This is what I have to deal with! How could you have left me with her at Eustace's? That summer was dreadful!"

"I dunno, Ed," Peter shrugs. "You seemed to have managed yourself perfectly fine."

"After Aslan called us back, yes, but before that--" Edmund shrudders. "I scare myself thinking about it."

"Yes, living with you is quite a nightmare," Peter muses.

Edmund scrunches his nose and narrows his eyes at him.

"What? It's true!"

"I might have to tell Lucy about Selcarim after all if you keep getting hurt like this, Pete," Edmund sighs.

"We'll tell her after the competition," Peter agrees. "Oh, I'll have to show you the bakery as well. The scones there are rather good."

"You'll have to introduce me to Emily first," Edmund says with a grin.

"What?" Peter laughs at him with disbelief. "So soon?"

"Just to see if I can't convince her not to court you," Edmund grins smugly. "Is she pretty?"

"Wha--I--Ed!"

He desperately prays that his quick heartbeat and warm cheeks is from chasing after Edmund down the hallway.

~*~

GayathriK: Hah! Now, I kind of want to write that as a one shot or something xD Just imagine Diggory Kirke, Dumbledore, and Gandalf in a room together just drinking tea! Lol! XD


	14. Chapter Fourteen

~*~

Chapter Fourteen

~*~

"I wasn't expecting this many people to show up, " Peter admits. He's so anxious he forgot that his gloves were already on his fingers.

"Well, what did you expect? People secretly love violence, they just don't want to admit it," Noah says. He leans forward, craning his neck as if he were looking for someone. "Oh look, there's Karen and Emily!"

"What?!"

Peter whirls around so fast that he almost knocks Noah off the bench. Thankfully, Noah catches himself before he falls. Sure enough, he finds them walking across the bleachers, searching for a good seat. Emily looks up suddenly and their eyes meet. She smiles and waves awkwardly. He returns the gesture, only stopping when he hears Noah clearing his throat obnoxiously behind him.

"Really, Noah?" Peter asks with an annoyed sigh.

"What?" Noah counters. "I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it," Peter mutters.

"You're too paranoid sometimes, Pevensie," the smug grin on his friend's face told him all he needed to know. Noah mimicks him, waving at Karen who blows him a kiss. Peter's nose scrunches in distaste. "I say, is that Edmund over there?"

He points to the other side of the gym. Peter follows his gaze. Sure enough, Edmund's sitting on the bench, in deep conversation with his team mates.

"Edmund's going to compete as well," Petet confirms.

"Johnson, you're up!" Their coach bellows.

They both see where he's pointing. A tall, bulky boy with black hair and grey eyes stands up, waving his sabre around behind him before pointing the sword to the ground.

"Are they joking?" Noah chuckles in disbelief.

"Be careful, mate, don't die out there," Peter mocks his friend and pushes him out into the ring. Noah glares at him before covering his face with his silver helmet.

"Ready? Fence!"

He tries to follow their movement but Noah's too fast on his feet. Next thing he knows, his friend is on the ground wrestling his opponent. Peter gets up from the bench immiditely, leaving his armour behind, when he hears the coach's whistle blare across the gym.

"You're out of line, Johnson!"

"I'm not out of line, he is!" Noah argues furiously. "He stabbed my shoulder!"

"Pevensie, calm your friend!"

"I will, sir!"

He wraps his arm around Noah's back and leads him away from the fight, back to the bench, ignoring the older boys protests.

"I was this close," Noah pinches his pointer finger and thumb together to emphasise his point. "to beating him! The twat jabbed me in the shoulder twice and tried to get my head! He should've gotten a penalty for that!"

"Noah, calm down!"Peter grabs his friend's arm before he could do something he'd regret. "You don't want to get kicked off the team again, do you?!"

Noah stops his struggle, panting through his nose. He whirls around and stares at him evenly. There were so many emotions in his eyes that were unreadable. But the only one that stood out to him the most was pain. And Peter knew that quite well.

"Thanks," Noah says quietly. He clears his throat, breaking the silence, "and for the record, I didn't want to get kicked off that team. I loved that sport."

"I know," Peter says, ignoring his friend's voice break. It wasn't his fault either, he thinks but doesn't say out loud. "Just... just sit down."

"Yeah, yeah," Noah swats his hand away as he sits back down on the bench. "I'm going after him if he tries anything though."

Noah tenses as he eyes the boy carefully who's glaring in their direction.

"Well,isn't this interesting? Pevensie against Pevensie!"

"Be careful, mate, don't die," Noah mocks him and salutes.

Peter was going to make a sarcastic retort but shuts his mouth. There isn't any mocking look in Noah's eyes at all. Only seriousness which Noah isn't known for at all. Peter nods in understanding, smiling softly as he mocks his friend's salute.

He takes a deep breath as soon as he steps in the ring, eyeing his brother carefully as he steps in front of him.

"Seem a little tense there, brother," Edmund smirks.

"I'm just warming up," Peter retorts, rolling his shoulders around to relax them.

"Ready? Fence!"

There are a few gasps in the crowd as Edmund and Peter rush towards each other with their swords meeting in a loud, echoing clash that bounces off the walls. Edmund nods at him in approval.

"Looks like you haven't lost your touch," Edmund whispers to him, loud enough that only he can hear.

A huge grin spreads on his face, "Seems like it," he says breathlessly. "You need a lot of work though."

"Are you really saying that to a pro?" Edmund raises his eyebrows. "No one could even beat me back in Narnia."

"Don't boast, little brother," Peter laughs. "It doesn't suit you."

"You don't like it cause it's true," Edmund taunts playfully.

Edmund goes for the injury on his right shoulder, giving Peter no time to defend himself against the blow. He cries out in pain and stumbles back, earning a few startled gasps from the audience around them. From the corner of his eye, he sees Lucy get up from her seat,staring at him worriedly. He smiles at her to reassure her but she doesn't buy it.

"That was a cheap shot!" Peter says to him.

"I couldn't resist, sorry," Edmund shrugs.

Edmund swings the sword behind Peter's legs and hecries out as his ankles give way. Peter stumbles back onto the mat, breathing heavily as he glances up at his brother who's pointing the sword against his chest. Peter stares at him in disbelief but there's still a grin on his face. A whistle blows signaling the end of the match.

"Never doubted you for a second, Ed," Peter says, grabbing his hand. Edmund lifts him off the ground.

"I had it sorted," Edmund retaliates with a grin.

Peter bursts out laughing. How is it that Edmund always manages to taunt him with the things he said when he was a prat yet somehow he can't stay mad at him?

"You both were wonderful!" Karen exclaims, tackling them both in a fierce hug. They both cry out in pain, wincing at their injuries. She kisses Noah's cheek twice before hugging him once more.

"We both lost, Karen," Noah says, wincing at probably a sore injury.

"It doesn't matter, love, " Karen argues. "You both won in my book."

"You aren't gonna kiss me too, are you?" Peter asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, Peter Pan," she sticks her tongue out playfully. Peter mimics her, laughing all good-natured.

"You were great, Peter," Emily says softly.

She stiffens, leaning forward as if she's going to hug him but she never does.

"Thanks," he says with the same tone.

"Are you alright?" She asks him when he comes closer towards her. She stiffens when he leans in and stays like that even when he hugs her. "He stabbed your injured shoulder."

"I'm alright,don't worry!" Peter chuckles.

"You tell me not to but that doesn't make me worry less," Emily points out.

"Of course," Peter sighs.

"Are you Emily?" Lucy asks.

"I am," Emily says hesitantly, glancing over to Peter in confusion.

"He's been mentioning you a lot in his letters," Edmund says, grinning smugly at Peter who's gone stiff and turning a bright red.

"Ed!" He hisses, nudging him.

"It's true!" Edmund protests.

"Really?" Emily raises her eyebrows.

"All the time."

"Edmund..." Lucy nudges him.

He stops teasing when he notices how uncomfortable Emily is.

"Is it true," Edmund changes the subject. "that you knew he was from another world?"

"Yes," she nods. "He's strange. Just like you two are."

Edmund looks quite affronted, probably from being called strange. His eyes narrow slightly but there's still a small grin on his face for the sake of politeness.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to stop by the bakery and show them?" Peter asks, nudging Emily's shoulder. She glances at his direction but not at his eyes.

"I don't mind at all," Emily says in her whimsical tone. "Mum would really appreciate the visitors. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Emily walks with the two girls ahead of them, chatting about other worlds and fantasy creatures. Poor Karen looks incredibly confused by their conversation and a little put out. But she still smiles whenever Noah gives her a kiss.

"You know she didn't mean anything by it, right, Ed?" Peter asks. Edmund has been noticeably quiet during their whole walk.

"You always did like the strange ones," Edmund muses.

"No, I don't," Peter exclaims.

"Whatever you say, Pete," Edmund pats his injury with more force then usual. Peter hisses in pain and sends an accusatory glare his way, not believing Edmund's innocent grin for a moment. "Oh, which reminds me...I still need to keep my promise!"

"What promise?" Peter raises his eyebrows when Edmund winks.

He can't help but smile when Edmund calls Noah over and punches his jaw, ignoring Karen and Lucy's shocked protests, and Noah attempts to calm her down, saying he deserved it. While it's long conversation with what Noah did to deserve the punch, they were at the bakery before Peter knew it.

And to his dismay, Emily's brother is working at the register today.

"Back so soon, Pevensie?" Brandon nods at him. "You just came here yesterday."

"I just really like it here is all," Peter says, sharing a knowing look with Emily. "These are my siblings. Ed, Lu, this is Brandon."

"Oh, dear God, there are more of them!" Brandon exclaims, holding a hand above his heart.

"Pleasure to meet you, Brandon!" Lucy holds out a hand for him to shake which he does hesitantly. "I'm Lucy Pevensie! I hope our brother hasn't been giving you too much trouble!"

"Pleasure," Brandon sighs, giving in to Lucy's bright smile. "Alright, what'll it be, you two?"

"I was hoping if its alright for them to stay over for dinner, if that's alright with you," Emily says. She shuffles her feet around and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, you've got to be kid--" he stops himself and takes a deep breath as one would do if they're trying to hold in their anger. "You know what, that's fine. That's fine! We haven't had company in awhile."

"I can't imagine why," Edmund mutters only for Lucy to elbow him in his side to get him to be quiet.

"Well, you're welcome to stay the night if you miss the train," Brandon offers.

Peter raises his eyebrows at the tall man. He certainly didn't get an offer like that when he first came.

"Thank you very much!" Lucy grins.

"By the mane, he's like another Macready!"

"Odd, I thought the same," Peter mutters.

"Who's Macready?" Emily frowns. He isn't so sure if that's from them teasing her brother or not.

"Just a woman you should watch out for in the future," Edmund tells her.

"I like to call her an old bat," Peter admits. Edmund snickers.

"I apologise for my brothers, Emily," Lucy interjects, glaring at them. "they could be quite rude sometimes."

"Oh no need to worry, Lucy," Emily says, "my brother's the same way as well."

Peter sobers up at the mention of her brother. He frowns ,noticing the distant look in her eyes which gains Edmund's attention. Edmund smacks his shoulder, clearing his throat.

"Emily," he calls to her. She perks up at the sound of his voice. "Is it alright if we show them Selcarim? They've been dying to see it."

"Selcarim?" Lucy asks,narrowing her eyes. "What's Selcarim?"

"A wonderful place," Emily tells her with a small smile. "I can show you if you like."

She leads them to the park, behind the yellow slide, and though the bushes where a certain door is hidden.

"What's Selcarim? Is it like Narnia?!" Lucy asks. Her blue eyes light up at the mention of their magical country. "Is it Narnia?!"

"We're not entirely sure," Edmund says. "It's what we're trying to figure out."

"And you kept it from me?!" she throws a glare at Edmund and Peter's way who both smile sheepishly, unable to give her a full explanation of this new magical land.

"What's Narnia?"

The three tense at Emily's voice and whirl around in unison. Emily frowns at them.

"I heard Peter mention it one time," she says at their looks of shock.

"It's -- it's --well--" Edmund stammers, begging for Peter and Lucy to help him.

"It's merely something in a back of a wardrobe," Lucy smiles in reassurance but ot doesn't reach her eyes. "That's all."

"Oh," her frown deepens.

"You were showing us Selcarim?" Edmund asks nervously.

"Oh! Right!"

Emily opens the doors. But there's nothing on the other side. Instead of grass fields, there was a small room with just a mop and bucket.

"I -- I don't understand! It was there this morning," she stammers.

She opens and closes the doors again only to get the same result.

"I'm really sorry," Emily apologises. "I don't --I don't know why it won't show!"

"It's alright," Lucy reassures her. "Don't worry about it so much."

"Oh, come along, Lu," Edmund says, nudging Lucy. "we need to get desserts for later."

"Oh!" Lucy catches on, raising her eyebrows. "Well, we could get some for the trip back as well."

"I like the way you think," and they walk off, leaving them behind. Peter catches Edmund wriggling his eyebrows. He shakes his head and turns towards Emily who's still staring at the door with a puzzled frown.

"Why wouldn't it show up for them?" Peter frowns. He places a hand against the wood, tracing the swirls that looked like carved leaves.

"I don't... I don't know," she stammers. "I feel awful. They were staring at me like I just crushed them!"

"It's alright, don't worry about it, Edmund and Lucy just had a tiring day is all," he offered her his arm which she just stares at. "Come on, let's go before they hog all the good dessert."

"...alright."

He takes one more look at the door before leading her back to the bakery.

~*~

 **MetroNeko** : Oh, I see what you mean! I've been spoiled for a few fandoms on Pinterest as well so definitely know that feeling! DX wait, does that mean you were spoiled for the last book on Pinterest? :O lol, glad you like the idea too xD

 **GayathriK:** I'm glad you liked it! Edmund, Lucy, and Peter's interactions are a lot of fun to write! Lol, I've already started writing! I love the idea of them gathering together for a conversation XD


	15. Chapter Fifteen

~*~

Chapter Fifteen

~*~

Late that night, Peter sneaks into the guest bedroom to check on Edmund and Lucy. Just as he suspected, their light is on and they were sitting on the small bed, talking to each other in hushed tones.

He couldn't sleep himself. He isn't sure if it's because he's sleeping at someone else's home or from worrying about Emily and Selcarim.

"Mind if I come in?" Peter asks, knocking softly on the door, and smirks when they both jump.

"Why didn't you tell me about Selcarim?" Lucy asks with a pout on her face. "You told Edmund."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Lu," Peter apologises. "I asked Edmund not to say anything because I'm still confused about it myself."

"Do you think this is some sort of test from Aslan?" Lucy asks eagerly, eyes lighting up at the mention of the Great Lion.

"It has to be," Peter answers with a firm nod of his head. "I just wish I knew why He's testing me. Do you think something's happening to Narnia right now? I have a bad feeling."

"We have to wait until Eustace goes to Narnia," Lucy sighs heavily. "Aslan said he could go back but we don't even know when that'll happen. It could be a year from now or even five months from now."

"How is Eustace by the way?"

"Oh he's fine, still adjusting to everything," Lucy says with a small grin. "He wants to know everything about Narnia."

Peter grins at this. He remembers all the lessons he had from Oreius and the Beavers after becoming king. How nastolgic!

"Except..." Lucy continues hesitantly. She glances at Edmund as if unsure how to approach the conversation.

"Except our dear aunt and uncle think we've corrupted him," Edmund continues for her.

"What?" Peter's jaw drops slightly from disbelief. "They're blaming us?"

"For changing their and I quote 'precious little boy, he's gone completely mad'," Edmund scoffs, folding his arms across his chest while also muttering "As if he wasn't mad before," under his breath.

"Edmund!" Lucy gasps, hitting Edmund's shoulder.

"What? As if you haven't thought about it before either!" Edmund feigns confusion which makes Lucy frown. "Although I do admit the git has gotten a lot better since becoming a dragon."

Her frown turns into a pleased smile, "Look at the beight side, Ed, at least Caspian and the others got to share in our misery."

"Hah! I always knew there was this evil side to you, Lu!" Edmund flicks her nose and she sticks her tongue out at him. "Mum wouldn't believe me!"

"Did you really expect her to believe you with all the lies you've told before?" Peter raises his eyebrows, coming to Lucy's rescue.

"Thank you, Peter," Lucy smiles sweetly. "And,Ed, who can say no to this face?" She gives him her best puppy dog stare with the pouty lips and everything.

"Oh, shut it," Edmund smiles as he shoves a pillow in her face. She swats it away from her face and tosses another one at Edmund.

The two share a few giggles. Only quieting down when Peter presses a finger up to his lips to shush them. They were guests in a dear friend's house, after all.

"Honestly though, I wish you both would quit changing the subject on me," Lucy says after they've sobered up. Peter and Edmund both give her equally guilty looks. "I hate when you do that!"

"Sorry, Lu," Peter's the first to apologise. "I know you want to hear more about it but it I just don't know how much I should tell you."

"Well, what's it like?" Lucy asks. Her blue eyes light up in excitement. "Is it anything like Narnia?"

"It's a small country," Peter tells her after a long, inner debate with himself. Sorry, Em, he thinks. I can't keep this from them. "With a huge castle that's smaller on the inside. Alden's the leader, he's the one who told me there's trouble with gryphons disappearing."

"They're disappearing?" Lucy asks. "Because of the masked man?"

Peter throws an annoyed look in Edmund's way. He just stares back innocently.

"Yes," Peter sighs. "He's been giving them a lot of trouble unfortunately. Emily and I have this theory that he's human too. There's something odd and familiar about him. I just can't place a finger on it."

"Do you think he could be someone we know?" Lucy asks. "From this world?"

"He could be," Peter agrees with her. "I always believed it was Emily's brother. I don't fully trust him. By the lion's mane, this whole thing is driving me mad!"

"There is something off about him," Lucy admits softly. "and it's not just because he has a temper like you, Pete," Peter protests at this but quiets because it's true.

And he agrees with her. Peter learned from Lucy to always see the best in people. And he still believes it to this day. But, he can't help but not trust Brandon, especially with how he treats his own sister.

"What are you going to do about the masked man?" Edmund asks. He'd been oddly quiet during the whole conversation.

"I just have to try my best to reason with him."

"Reason with him?! Peter, he's attacked you once!" Edmund exclaims, making a point to gesture towards his injured shoulder. "I don't think he's the sort of person to listen to reason."

"He's attacked you?!" Lucy pipes up, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I don't really have any other choice, you two, " Peter argues. "If I don't do something he could hurt more of those creatures."

"Just promise you'll be careful, Pete?" Lucy asks, frowning. "I have a bad feeling about this whole thing too. "

"I promise," he tells her with a strained smile.

At this rate, he can't afford to mess up.

"Now, what's this I hear about you and Emily?" Lucy grins slyly at him, noticeably changing the subject, scooting a little closer to him. "Every time I keep asking you, you always evade the answer!"

"I've already told you we're just friends!" Peter chuckles nervously. "What more can I possibly do?"

"Take her out to dinner." Edmund suggests with a smug grin on his face.

"Invite her over for christmas!"

"I bet mum would be over the moon if you brought her over to Finchley."

"I swear you two are just as worse as Noah sometimes!" Peter laughs. He tosses a pillow at them which Edmund annoyingly catches with ease. Lucy shrieks with laughter as she tosses a pillow at him and hits him right in his jawline.

He loves his siblings but sometimes they annoy him far too much for their own good. But talking to them always made him feel better and made the struggle of being back in England seem like a distant memory.

~*~

GayathriK: Yeah, Peter hasn't been doing great battle wise. I like to think it's because he's rusty at it from being away from Narnia for so long but Edmund's great at it still because he spars with Eustace from time to time and because he is a natural fighter :) I could have sworn I did say who Emily was hugging because Peter hugged her first. :O Thank you for bringing that to my attention! I'll take a look at it later!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

~*~

Chapter Sixteen

~*~

He walks out of the bakery late that night when everyone's asleep.

Peter didn't think it'd open for him. He glances back at the bakery, making sure that she's not following him, and goes through the doorway and into the magical realm. He sees Alden almost instantly, pacing back and forth on the hill.

"Alden!"

The gryphon stops his pacing and bows his head respectfully.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show."

"It wasn't easy getting here," Peter admits guiltily. "I had to sneak past Emily and her family."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Alden asks, gliding towards him.

Peter nods, "I have to do this," he says with finality.

The magnificent gryphon bows his head and lets out a long breath. The dirt beneath their feet kicks up into the air, swirling so fast that it made Peter want to vomit. A blue light bursts from the ground, towards the sky, and gradually reaches Peter's height. He can barely see the other side. It'much too dark to tell what's there.

"Go on ahead, Peter, I can only hold it for so long," Alden says. Peter can barely hear him over the humming.

"I'll only be in for a little while," Peter reassures him.

"Are you going to be telling Emily about this?" Alden asks with disproval in his tone.

"Not yet," Peter admits."I will later, I promise."

"I don't like this," Alden tells him. He shifts his large claws around on the grass anxiously, kicking up some dirt in the air. "or this secrecy."

"I know, but we have no choice, Alden," Peter says.

Peter pats the gryphon's beak, giving him a crooked smile that must've looked wrong on his face, and walks through the light without another word.

He shudders as he sluggishly travels through the darkness. Goosebumps prick at his skin as he walks through. He tries to ignore it but the sensation makes him shiver. The warmth of the sun was gone and Peter feels a cool, gentle breeze brush against his face. How long has it been since he's been to a beach? How long has it been since he smelt the salty air or heard the waves crash onto the shore? It's almost nostalgic and memories of Cair Paravel rush in his mind as he takes it all in.

He sees him immediately.

The masked man is slouching against a boulder, staring at the water. He must've been in deep thought if he hadn't heard Peter's footsteps crunch against the sand.

"I don't know who you're trying to fool boy," the masked man comments, startling Peter. He doesn't even turn around. "I know who you are. What brings you here?"

How could the man even recognise him underneath the cloak? His hand flies to the sword in his belt cautiously as if he were waiting for a surprise attack.

"I'm not looking for a fight," he says hesitantly.

"Yet, you've brought your sword," the man retaliates. Peter exhales sharply and takes his hand off of the weapon. How the hell did he know that? "Why are you here?"

"Why are you here?" Peter asks harshly.

"I've been here longer than you have, boy. I'm here because I have a right to be here," the man says.

"Not when you've gone and invaded the gryphon's land!" Peter shouts furiously.

"Is that what they've told you?" the man asked in an amused tone. "I've invaded nothing."

"You still drove them away from their homes," Peter argues. "Why?"

"Perhaps, I was just bored," the man shrugs his shoulders.

"I'm giving you a chance to stand down," Peter says through gritted teeth. " and walk away peacefully."

"Put that sword away, boy," the man grins. "I'm not looking for a fight either."

"Why?" Peter asks. "Why is today any different?!"

"You'd just be wasting my time, kiddo."

He's tired of being talked down to.

He's tired of being treated like a kid.

He's not a kid anymore.

He's a king.

Peter unsheathed his sword and springs at the man with a loud battle cry. He tries to aim for the man's head but he retaliates with a sword of his own. The two swords clash with a loud cling! and they're staring each other down. He shoves Peter who loses his balance and stumbles backward; hitting the ground with a dull thud, and accidentally kicking up some sand up in the air with the heels of his boots. Peter cries out as he scrapes his side and his hood falls off when he glances up.

The man doesn't say anything at first.

"You're interesting, I'll give you that," the man says, startling him. "Just who are you?"

He walks slowly towards Peter and stares down at him. He almost appeared lost in thoughts or if he were remembering something. Peter regards him carefully, regretting his rash decision. He could've attacked him right there. He could've ended it all. But he held his ground. Because despite everything he's done, Peter saw a man lost in a confusing world. If the man wanted him dead, he would've killed him already.

"Go home to your friend, Peter," the man says softly. Peter goes rigid when he mentions Emily. He stares at the man with wide eyes. He tries his best to hide any emotion. But the man must've seen his stiff posture because he continues, "she must be worried about you."

And he doesn't say anything else.

He merely opens up a portal, leaving Peter behind. Peter lets out a cry of frustration as he tosses the sword in the air, aiming for the portal. But it closes, missing him completely, and the sword falls uselessly on the sand. His temper always made a mess of things. He almost put Emily in harm's way. Why would he even mention her at all? To get him riled up? None of it made any sense. He'd have to keep a closer eye on her from now on.

~*~

Funfact: The confrontation that Peter had with the Masked Man was originally in the early drafts for this fic as a prologue set in the main villain's POV and Edmund was the one to fight him instead! Peter was not the main focus. The story was going to be about Edmund and his own struggles to redeem himself but then I realized that Peter is a much better fit for this instead and had to scrap everything. :)

~*~

 **MetroNeko:** Aw, I'm so sorry that you got spoiled for that ending! Dx You had every right to be upset after that because The Last Battle had such an emotional ending Dx

 **GayathriK** : Thank you! After this confrontation with the Masked Man, the story behind Emily and her connection with Selcarim and Owls will start to unfold :)


	17. Chapter Seventeen

~*~

Chapter Seventeen

~*~

Peter tenses when he sees the light on inside the store. He opens the door, wincing at the loud jingle the bell makes when he shuts it behind him. To his relief, he sees Edmund sitting by the dining table with a tea cup in his hands. Edmund raises an eyebrow as Peter slowly walks up to him with a sheepish smile on his face though quite relieved that it hadn't been Emily or her brother.

"Where have you been?" Edmund asks. "I heard you sneak out."

"I...might've done something bad, Ed," Peter admits, sitting on the vacant seat besides his younger brother.

"What did you do?" Edmund sighs.

"I tried to talk to the masked man," Peter explains. "but I think I might've just made things worse."

"What's he like?" Edmund frowns.

"He's ... odd," Peter says as he recalls their fight. "It's like he truly doesn't want to attack us but he does so anyway. I just can't understand him."

"Ed, if anything happens..."

"Nothing is going to happen!" Edmund shouts furiously. Peter shushes him, afraid that someone might wake up and discover them awake. He sighs and asks more quietly this time, "Why do you always have to do that? You always talk as if you're going to get killed!"

"I don't know what might happen there, Ed," Peter says.

"Then you better make sure you come back," Edmund threatens. "or I'm going to kill you myself if you get hurt."

"But I'll already be dead," Peter smiles lightheartedly despite the tense conversation.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Edmund counters.

It's completely quiet for a few minutes, giving Peter some time to think it over. He didn't want it to be true. But he still has that sinking feeling everytime the masked man appears in his thoughts. It won't go away. Neither will the bad feeling at the pit of his stomach. And he has a feeling the problem won't go away until he fixes things in Selcarim.

"Eustace might come over for the holidays, so expect a letter from him sometime soon," Edmund reveals, changing the subject to something more light hearted. Peter's face drains of colour. "He and Lucy want to have another proper Narnian get together on Christmas."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Peter asks. "The last one didn't go so well, remember? It's just not the same without everyone."

They both go quiet again. Susan has always been a hard subject to talk about between the three. They don't know why she refuses to acknowledge Narnia. She abruptly changes the subject all the time, leaving Peter and Edmund both caught off guard, and Lucy bursting into tears. Their mother hates she they get into huge arguments, especially when she can't do anything to help them. Their mum still had no idea about Narnia. And he always felt terrible keeping it from her.

"Let Susan do what she wants to do," Edmund says bitterly. "She'll come to her senses one day."

"I hope so, Ed," Peter tells him half-heartedly. "I really hope so."

"Well, I'm going to head for bed," Edmund says. "I don't want them thinking I stole something out of the pantry."

"Me as well," Peter agrees, getting up the same time that Edmund does.

"Just promise, you'll be careful out there?" Edmund asks. "Lucy and I won't be there to help you out."

"I'm always careful, Ed," Peter grins.

"It still doesn't help me worry less," Edmund says. "G'night. Here's to hoping that Lucy isn't awake to bite my head off."

"G'night, Ed," Peter says sarcastically with a small grin on his face.

Edmund merely salutes mockingly before heading up the stairs. Peter doesn't follow after him. He's too lost in his thoughts and worries.

~*~

The next few weeks without Edmund and Lucy had been absurdly hard. Even with the amazing friends he has, he still finds himself lonely. He didn't know if it was because he felt out of place in England or if it was because he had no one to talk to about Narnia. But the difference is noticeable and if his friends noticed, they never said anything about it.

"Peter!" Emily hisses. She ignores the strange looks she receives from the boys in his school that have passed by. When she turns away from them, Peter glares in their direction and they scatter. "I need to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" Peter frowns at the urgent tone.

"No, it's about Selcarim," she says, bouncing around impatiently. "Will you come with me?"

He surveys the area for any onlookers and when he finds none, he nods and follows her to the train station. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about fencing practice that afternoon.

"Something's happened," Emily says as soon as she locks the compartment door.

"What is it?" Peter asks anxiously. "What's wrong?"

"The castle's been attacked," Emily says and Peter's eyes widen in horror. "No one got hurt."

She doesn't even stop by the bakery to tell her family she's home.

Emily heads straight for the hidden door behind the bushes and to his immense relief, there is no spare room on the other side. He frowns as they step into the fields together. The air is strange, thicker with tension than when he first came to the magical land. The sky's a bit duller, a greyish tone compared to the bright blue from before.

The castle is in complete ruins from thick, black smoke and orange flames.

"What happened here?" Peter asks.

"The masked man happened," Alden's voice booms behind them, making Peter jump. "I told you it wasn't a good idea, Peter."

"What happened?" Emily frowns. "Alden told me you tried to take him on by yourself!"

Peter glares at the gryphon who only stares back innocently.

"Peter," Emily says warningly. "What did you do?"

He finds a note lying on the floor in one of the rooms and picks it up. On it read "we strike in the afternoon. Be ready." His breath hitches as he reads it over and over again, praying he hadn't read it correctly.

"Peter?" Emily calls softly, grasping his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"He wants to fight," Peter tells her. "today."

"We're not ready for a fight," Emily tenses

"I'm afraid that we don't have a choice anymore, dear one," Alden agrees solemnly. "my kind can help you from above, if need be. I can call upon the centaurs for their strength as well."

Her eyes dart back and forth between them as if she we're having an internal debate with herself and didn't like the answer that she came up with.

"Then we fight," Emily says softly.

Her eyes find his. They stare at each other, both trying to figure out one another. He nods at her answer, reaching out for her hand and gently grasping it in his own.

He only hopes that they were doing the right thing.

~*~

 **GatathriK** : Bahaha! I feel like I should say sorry but I'm honestly not...okay, maybe a little. Also, please don't die! And please feel free to ask questions!


	18. Chapter Eighteen

~*~

Chapter Eighteen

~*~

Emily is quiet the entire time they're preparing. Her blue eyes dart over the chess board as if she were carefully looking for any mistakes in their plan. He slowly makes his way over to her, adjusting the chain mail as he walks and stands by her side.

"Will you be alright going up there?" Peter asks. He has to be sure.

She glances up at him, frowning.

"I'll be fine," she says softly. "It's your idea. Why are you doubting?"

"It's just..." he hesitates.

Alden trudges over towards them, "are you questioning my flying skills, Pevensie?" he hums, nudging him with his sharp beak. "I'm quite insulted."

"Don't worry, I know you're the best flier around," Peter smiles, patting Alden's beak. "Keep her safe?"

"I will, don't you worry," Alden smiles, nudging his shoulder.

"I always worry," Peter admits.

"There they are," Emily mutters.

He hears a horn blow in the distance and cranes his neck to see the army approaching from above them.

"Get ready," he mutters back.

Emily stares at him for a long moment and gently squeezes his shoulder as if to reassure him. Just as she walks away, Peter gently grasps her arm. She whirls around, jumping at his touch. She doesn't back away which he only hopes is a good sign. He shakes his head and tenderly kisses her forehead. She stares at him with wide eyes and her jaw drops slightly as she holds onto him.

"Just be careful," he tells her.

She nods and gets up on the gryphon's back. She into the creature's ear and Alden flaps his long, golden wings and takes off to the sky with a loud screech. Peter watches as a group of ten grphons follow him and disappear in the clouds.

He's by himself once more. His heart is beating fast against his chest as the army approaches. He has not gone to battle since he fought the giants. And that still felt like a long time ago. He can hear everyone's worried whispers and the trilling caws from the gryphons above.

He has to do this. He needs to do this. Not for him. They were counting on him to fix this mess. He prays to Aslan to guide him through the battle.

The masked man disappears from view, startling a few creatures behind him. He calls for them, telling them to be calm and still. They eye him skeptically but do as they're told. Peter shouts for the archers to be ready and in startling unison, the centaurs grab their long, silver bows from the quivers on their backs, sending chills down his spine as they wait patiently for the next order.

The army hasn't even moved yet.

He hears a hum from somewhere near him and he turns to the left, seeing a blueish purple portal opening up. He pulls his sword out in front of him and they collide which makes Peter's hands shake. He hears the man curse under his breath and Peter taunts him for missing. The man vanishes once more.

He reminds himself to calm down. He didn't need the man any angrier than he already was. He sees him again, standing on the cliffs once more. The masked man gestures to the sky, and a bunch of winged horses from his own side take off and disappear into the clouds. Peter's chest tightens and he tries to calm his frantic breathing. Emily's still up there.

He watches with horror as a few gryphons tumble to the earth below, lying eerily still on the grass. Their pain-filled screeches ring in his ears. There were long, blotchy scratch marks on their wings and eyes. And before he can blink, they're all gone. Just disappeared into thin air as if they've never existed.

Emily. Where's Emily? His thoughts are frantic as he glances up at the sky once more, darting back and forth from cloud to cloud. He couldn't even see her up there.

He hears a loud, majestic caw from the gryphon and recognises it almost immiditely. Alden! He catches a glimpse of golden wings in the silver mist. Thank Aslan. They're alright!

The masked man must've sensed his worry. Peter turns to face him. His eyes widen in horror. How long has he been standing there in front of him? The man had a chance to kill him. Why didn't he take that chance?

They stare at each other for a few more minutes, standing in a still silence. He's afraid to move but he's prepared for any painful blows that might come his way.

None came. He hears a soft whistle and hum and Peter opens his eyes, confused by the noise.

The masked man transforms his sword into a bow and arrow and aims for the sky. Was he going to--? No! Peter pleads for him to stop but the man fires an arrow. He whirls around in time to see the magnificent beast fall and crash onto the ground. Emily's nowhere to be found.

"Emily!" Peter shouts; horrified.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was she important?" The masked man mocks.

With a furious cry, Peter aims for the man's head only to miss. He takes advantage of that distraction to run after the gryphon.

"Alden!" he shouts, sliding on the dirt and on his knees beside the giant bird. He takes off his helmet as his throat tightens.

Emily's safe but pinned underneath Alden. She clutches onto the griffin's fur, shaking as half his body vanishes in a pale blue light.

"You have to go... both of you... it isn't safe... " Alden gasps. "Emily..."

"Don't leave, Alden," Emily pleads, clutching onto his fur. "Please, don't leave! You can't! I won't let you!"

"Alden..."

He turns towards Peter and nods, "Keep her safe, will you?"

Peter nods his head vigorously, holding back a sob that threatened to escape his throat, "I will."

"Alden!" Emily shrieks. "Please!"

Alden lays his head back on the ground and vanishes into a startling, bright blue light. Then he's gone.

They're silent for a moment before Emily lets out a pain-filled cry. She stumbles forward but he manages to catch her and hold her back. She isn't hurt and, to his immense relief, there aren't any wounds on her, but her entire body is trembling. He wraps his arms around her in a fierce hug, watching the last of the blue light fade away to nothing.

He hears a soft hum approach them from behind. He recognises it at once. Peter whirls around and plunges his sword into the man's stomach.

And the man's hood comes right off.

~*~

 **GayathriK** : You're right, she definitely is not a fighter, and she hasn't learned to properly fight either, and only knows a little bit of magic from what the winged horses taught her. She does visit Selcarim before school every day, and I forgot to mention this happens throughout the entire day, so that definitely was a mistake on my part!


	19. Chapter Nineteen

~*~

Chapter Nineteen

~*~

"Papa?" she asks in a small, quivering voice.

Peter starts at that, eyes widening in horror as he glances the man over once more, completely speechless.

His face is clean shaven and eyes were a startling blue. He had the same dark hair. As Peter gets a closer look, he recognises him. He has seen this man in photographs from Emily's home, wearing a brown uniform. His breath hitches as he lowers his sword.

How?

He brings Emily closer behind him and narrows his eyes. Something's off. That couldn't be him. This had to be some sort of trick. To fool her.

"E-Emily?" the man's eyes flicker in recognition. He falls to his knees as he advances. "What are you doing here? You can't be here. It's too dangerous."

"Papa... we're here," she stammers, kneeling down to his level and nudging his arm. "We're here in Selcarim. By the bakery, remember?"

"Bakery," the man mutters. His face contorts in pain as little shards of light cover his knees and torso.

"No, no, you can't go yet!" Emily pleads with him. "You still have to go back! To see mum and Brandon!"

"I have to stay here, Emily," the man says softly. "There's no where else I can go."

"Come back with us," Emily urges him. "You don't have to fight anymore."

"Emily?" Mr. Jones whispers. He tries to grasp her hand in his but it only fades through. "Well, would you look at that? My little night owl's all grown up."

"No, No! You can't go!" Emily shrieks. "Come back!"

"Take care, Emily," the man says. He gently brushes a hand against her cheek and vanishes in a pale blue light. "Take care of Brandon for me too. I'll see you soon."

"Come back!"

He has a proud grin on his face. But there's a hint of sadness in his eyes as he fades into the light, leaving nothing behind but a white mist.

She lunges forward maybe in an attempt to hug him but Peter manages to stop her. He wraps his arms around her and they both fall to the ground once more. It's the first time he's heard her cry and he never wants to hear the sound again.

"I don't... I don't want to be here anymore," Emily whimpers.

The world slowly fades away around him, leaving them just sitting on the floor of an empty room. He rubs her back in soothing circles until her cries quiet down. They just sit in silence, too in shock to even say anything. Peter whispers her name, helps her up to her feet, and leads her away from that room, back to the park where they sit on the bench.

"All this time... I... I never," she stammers. Her voice cracks. There's tear stains on her cheeks and her eyes are red from crying, "I never knew."

"I'm sorry," Peter says softly as he rubs smooth circles across her back. "I just... I just wasn't thinking! I had to...!" He stops himself. I had to protect you, is what he wanted to say. He would protect her with his life.

"Not your fault," she mutters. "It's not."

And in a way, it was his fault. He could have tried harder to talk to that man. He could've...

"I -- I have to tell Brandon!" She gets up from the bench but he stops her from going.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Peter frowns.

"I have to!" She insists. "We created that world together. He needs to know!"

"Brandon knew too?"

She nods and heads straight for the bakery, leaving him without any explanation.

"Brandon!" Emily exclaims. The smile vanishes from her brothers' face when she rushes over to hug him. "Brandon, I saw him!"

"You've seen who?" Brandon's too befuddled to return her hug. "What's going on?"

"I saw him there in the other world!" She exclaims. Some sort of recognistion flickers in Brandon's eyes before they become hard without any emotion. "Brandon?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Em," Brandon shrugs her off of him.

"I saw papa there!"

Brandon's features harden, turning stone cold. He's stiff as a board.

"Em... Pap's... "

"I know," she interrupts him with a fierce attitude that reminds Peter of a queen. "But I saw him there... in Selcarim!"

Brandon's blue eyes flicker in recognistion but he doesn't say anything to reveal he remembers.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Em," he says softly. He turns away from her to wash another dish.

"Yes, you do!" Emily argues. "We used to go there alot... when we were kids!"

"We used to play alot of games when we were kids!" Brandon raises his voice, and agressivly tosses a plate into the sink.

"I know we did," Emily says more calmly than before. "Selcarim isn't a game. It's real! I know what I saw. Why don't you believe me?"

"I believe you," Brandon sighs.

She quiets at that. She must not have believed him by the hurt on her face.

"Why lie?" She asks in a small, cracking voice.

"Alright I don't believe you," Brandon admits with a heavy sigh. "I saw him die with my own eyes! How could you do that to me, Em?! How could you make me remember something like that?"

"But it's real," she protests.

"Magic doesn't exist, Em!" He bellows. "It never did! If it did it could bring him back!"

She quiets at that, staring at him with wide, tearful eyes. She whimpers softly and runs out of the room.

"Wait, Em," Brandon calls. "Em!"

"That went well!" Peter says, standing there awkwardly.

"Shut it, Pevensie," Brandon commands.

"It's true, you know," Peter adds in. "I saw him with my own eyes. She wouldn't lie about something like that."

"I'm not sure how I feel about you encouraging her, Pevensie," he says, voice filled with venom.

"She isn't mad!"

"She's bloody insane!" Brandon argues. His blue eyes flash dangerously as he tosses the rag in his hands in the sink. "She's been mad ever since our father went off to war!"

"You're wrong," Peter says through gritted teeth. Oh, it's so tempting to punch him right there. But he holds himself back. He promised his siblings he wouldn't get into any more fights. Brandon stares at him with disbelief but Peter matches his stare evenly.

Peter rushes towards the back door, leaving the older man to recollect his thoughts. He's so concerned about Emily he doesn't see her mother standing by the door.

"Mrs. Jones," he gasps, surprised to see the woman there. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to--"

"Oh, there's no need for that, dear!" She waves off his apology. "It's my fault, really!"

"I was wondering if it's alright to bring Emily to the countryside for the weekend?" Peter asks hesitantly. "Only if it's alright with you, of course."

"You--you're taking Emily out for a vacation!" It didn't sound like a question from how she worded it. The wavering smile on her face didn't reach her eyes. "How nice!"

"You don't mind?"

"Of course not!" Mrs. Jones says with enthusiasm. "She's already packing upstairs."

Peter frowns. Why would she be packing? He hadn't even told her yet. Unless... He sprints for her bedroom. The door was open slightly. He knocks on it, hearing Emily say "come in" and quietly enters the room. Unlike the rest of the house, her walls were a pale blue, pictures of owls plastered on them and small figures of horses were on her desk. It's so different from Susan, who liked way too much pink and gold. Or like Lucy's, who had pictures of lions on her gold walls.

"You're leaving," Peter observes. Emily stops what she's doing at the sound of his voice, still shaking, and doesn't turn to look at him.

"My family always thought I was mad," Emily admits. "Why stay? They wouldn't miss me."

"I'd miss you," he tells her.

Peter moves closer towards her and grasps her hand in his own, "Come with me," he says.

She gently squeezes his hand and nods her head in silent agreement.

~*~

 **GayathriK** : yeah, that scene and this chapter was so tough to write! D:


	20. Chapter Twenty

~*~

Chapter Twenty

~*~

It's quiet the entire train ride.

Emily's staring out the window, admiring the countryside, but has a troubled expression on her face. Peter's leg bounces up and down from nerves as he reads. Sometimes his eyes drift over to her, just to check up on her to make sure she's alright. He doesn't say anything, not trusting his voice. What could he have said to comfort her?

It's hard to tell what she's thinking or feeling. She's closed off from the world around her, always cautious around others. Which he understands. He understands that need to hide from the world. Maybe that's why they got along so well. They understood each other's pain. Maybe it's why he admires her so much.

The train comes to a slow stop and a man shouts "Coombe station!" at the top of his lungs to be heard over the whistle and squealing tires.

"Em?" he calls to her softly. She glances over at him but not into his eyes. She never does that to anyone, he notices. "We're here."

She purses her lips and nods her head. Emily gets up from her seat and swings a purple messenger bag over her shoulder. She reaches for the brown luggage above him on the rack but he stops her.

"May I?" he asks.

She stares at him with an unreadable expression on her face. She moves aside to let him get the heavy luggage. They quietly get off the train and begin their long walk across the dirt path and hilltops. He can see the manor from atop the hill, hiding in between the forest.

"This is where you live?" she gasps. Not in a distasteful way like how Margot reacted to the bakery.

"Only until I graduate from Uni," he admits with a bashful smile.

"This place is magnificent," Emily says, glancing up at the tall ceilings, and statues in awe. "I can't imagine walking down that road every day for school. I don't think I'd ever want to leave."

She stops, right at the same place where he and his siblings found the wardrobe. She's frowning at the door and her eyes narrow.

"What's wrong?" Peter asks softly.

She jumps, glancing over his way, "N-nothing, I-I just--" she stammers. "Peter... what's in this room?"

He stiffens, glancing over at the door. Just like the other day, he can see the professor's shadow on the other side of the door.

"Nothing," Peter sighs wistfully. "Just an empty room with an old wardrobe. Why?"

"There's strong magic in there," Emily admits. "I've never felt anything like it. Not sense..."

Not sense Selcarim?

"The professor's in there if that helps any," at her look of confusion, he adds, "he's been to another world too. Just like Edmund, Lucy, and I."

Her eyes flicker in recognistion and she glances over at the room once more.

"C'mon," he urges her away from the door. "We don't want to disturb him. I'll have to tell him about your visit later."

"Why not now?" Emily asks, glancing at the door curiously.

"Just one of the rules," Peter vaguely answers. "He can be stuck there for hours."

"What do you usually do around here?" She asks, not unkindly. "Do you always go to that secret room?"

"Come on, I know somewhere we can go," Peter grins.

She stares at him curiously after placing her luggage in the library and following after him out of the manor, towards the stable where four horses stood, eating oats. She stares at them with wide eyes before turning to Peter.

"We can ride them?!" She asks excitedly. He nods his head, chuckling at her giddiness.

He smiles at her as she attempts to get on top of the horse. The horse kicks up on its hind legs, neighing loudly, and breaks off into a run.

"Emily!" He cries out in a panic.

She comes back, smiling at him mischeviously. He tries to calm down his frantic breathing, sighing with relief.

"I do know how to ride a horse, you know," Emily says nonchalantly as if she didn't nearly give him a heart attack. "Winged horses, remember?"

"You little sneak!" He laughs.

She shrugs. Her blue eyes are dancing with amusement as she urges the horse to gallop forward. He follows after her, until they stop by the river in the woods. He counts out loud to three as they spread the red blanket with a faded golden lion print across the grass. Emily places a basket of breads and desserts on the edge.

"I like it here," she admits. "It's so much more open and free. Not like the bakery."

"I can't imagine what that's like," Peter admits. "You'd get to eat all the dessert you want without having to pay for it."

She giggles at that,"there are rules, you know," she tosses bread crumbs at him.

"Hey!" Peter protests, laughing as he brushes the crumbs off his white shirt.

At least he'd gotten her to smile.

"You didn't listen to Margot," she says. "When she told you I was a freak. Or Brandon. I overheard you two, sorry. You're both quite loud."

"It's alright," Peter tells her. "I meant what I said. I don't think you're a freak."

There's a ghost of a smile on her face but it doesn't reach her eyes. She glances over at the rushing water and dips her fingers across it, close enough that she can reach the edge of the river.

"I've always known I was different," she says softly. She watches the water drip from her fingers. "Even before papa went off to war. I think he knew too. They all just didn't want to say anything to hurt me."

"People don't really like different," she continues. "Even if they say they do, they really don't mean it. They want the same things over and over again becsuse they're familiar with it."

"You're right," Peter agrees. "They always say be yourself. But what they really mean is 'be the person they want to see.'"

"How do you handle it so well?" Emily asks. "You're from another world yet you act so normal, people like you. I'm from another world, yet I can't act normal. I'm not even sure if I want to be."

"Well, I don't care that you're different," Peter tells her honestly. "No matter how many times people tell me otherwise. I'll still like you."

She leans forward and her lips gently brush against his cheeks. Peter jumps away, startled by the smooth touch. He stares at her with wide eyes. She notices and averts her gaze, cheeks turn a faint red.

"I wanted to try doing more things that scared me," she confesses. "That scares me."

He's speechless. Did that--did that mean--? He couldn't even finish his thoughts, it had been so sudden. Every time he thinks he's figured her out, she manages to surprise him. He gently grasps her arm. She jumps at his touch as well but doesn't pull away. She glances up at him, staring right into his eyes. It's the first time she's ever looked at anyone properly. His thumb brushes a strand of hair that's fallen into her eyes.

"May I --?" He asks hesitantly. He leans forward, so close that their foreheads are almost touching.

She doesn't answer right away. She pulls away and there's a distant look in her eyes as if she were having an inner debate with herself. Emily glances up at him once more, right into his eyes again as if she were searching for an answer from him. She nods her head and that was all the encouragement Peter needed.

He leans forward and brushes his lips softly against hers.

He got a wiff of vanilla which is probably from living in a bakery for so long. She gasps softly, sitting still after almost stumbling back. Their noses bump awkwardly.

"That scares me too," Peter admits breathlessly. "Sorry for bumping your nose."

She bursts into giggles.

They were broken apart by a loud, obnoxious cough from behind. Peter whirls around, staring right into the green eyes of Macready who's sitting on top of her own horse, frowning at both of them. Oops. He almost forgot about her.

"Um, hi?" Peter waves at her awkwardly. Emily raises her eyebrows at the old woman.

"Is that Macready?" Emily asks, nudging his arm. "Old bat Macready?"

Peter shakes his head, eyes widening. He slowly turns towards the old woman with a sheepish smile on his face. She sends a nasty glare his way.

"Come with me," she commands.

"Yes ma'am," Peter says. He grasps Emily's hand in his own, helping back on her horse, and they follow Macready back towards the manor.

"Absolutely revolting!" Macready exclaims. "Bringing a complete stranger for the weekend without permission, using the river for their lovenest, takin' advantage--!"

"To be fair, we really weren't doing anything that bad," Peter raises his hands meekly, trying to ignore his burning cheeks.

"Shut it, Pevensie, you're already on my list!" She scolds. If looks could kill... "Don't make it worse! I can't believe you'd bring someone here without the professor's permission-no, actually, I can believe it, I had my suspicions about you Pevensies from day one! Absolutely--!"

"But I knew about her coming, Mrs. Macready," the professor interrupts. His blue eyes dance with mischief. She stares at him incredulously. Her jaw drops before muttering a soft "oh". "There's absolutely no reason to be upset."

"Just make sure this doesn't happen again!" Macready shouts. "And for God's sake, use a room next time!" Which makes both Emily and Peter blush.

"Yes, ma'am,"the two say shyly.

The air is thick with tension even after Macready leaves the study.

"You knew, professor?" Peter repeats with a small grin.

"This'll be our little secret," the professor winks at him. "Now, Miss Emily Jones is it?"

"Yes, sir," Emily says softly.

"First of all," the professor says sternly. "Does your bakery have any custard tarts or mince pies?"

Emily looks taken aback by the question but a smile spreads across her lips as she nods, "yes, sir."

"I think I shall purchase some in the near future, just be aware" he returns the grin. "Now, how much do you know about other worlds?"

She turns towards Peter with surprise written on her face. He winks cheekily and nods at the professor.

"Plenty, sir!" Emily exclaims happily. She reaches for Peter's hand the moment he sits next to her.

~*~

 **GayathriK:** So about the owls, for future reference, she thinks of herself as an owl because of her father, he saw her as one since she stayed up so late and has trouble sleeping. And because of the unusal condition she has that no one except her family knows about, when she asks "Do you like barn owls?" she really means "Do you like me?" in her own way because she wants people to like her. :) Also, she and Brandon literally created Selcarim when they were younger to escape the war. Brandon just forgot when he joined the military. I'm actually confused about where the countryside is in England myself. I imagined their school being close by the Professor's but far enough he has to tske the train there.


End file.
